


Don't Take My Soul

by Croc9400



Series: Steal My Heart [2]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Thieves, Angst, BAMF Alec Lightwood, BAMF Isabelle Lightwood, BAMF Jace Wayland, BAMF Magnus Bane, Crime, Domestic Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gun Violence, Happy Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Hurt Alec Lightwood, Hurt Magnus Bane, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Kidnapping, M/M, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood-centric, Married Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Parents Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Protective Alec Lightwood, Protective Magnus Bane, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:21:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 61,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24326425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Croc9400/pseuds/Croc9400
Summary: It's been six years since they rescued Alec and six years since his and Magnus' impromptu wedding. The Lightwoods are free of the Circle and free to live normal lives. Alec and Magnus have been living a life with their children that they never thought they'd get. Magnus' past is finally behind him and Alec's hasn't come back to haunt them.Until now.The Circle wants the Shadowhunters back, and they will do everything in their power to make that happen.Alec and Magnus, along with Jace and Izzy, must join together once again in order to save everything they hold dear.***Sequel to Steal My Heart. Can be read as a stand-alone.
Relationships: Clary Fray/Jace Wayland, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Simon Lewis/Isabelle Lightwood
Series: Steal My Heart [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1718338
Comments: 75
Kudos: 83





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone!! I know I said a month ago that this story was coming in two weeks BUT the end of the semester was very unkind to me. However, I am done now and have finally finished editing it (though my beta fell off the face of the earth (she does that sometimes) halfway through editing chapter 3 so only chapters 1 and 2 are beta'ed right now. If she ever does get a chance to look at them though I will post updated version)  
> This story will have 8 chapters and an epilogue. I will post every Friday night EST until it is done, so check back every Friday night or subscribe to the story, the series, or to me (there is a possibility I'll do one-shots within this series once I'm done this story but I'm not sure yet so I would suggest subscribing to the series or to me).  
> Finally, this story is a lot darker than Steal My Heart. The stakes are higher, the violence is more graphic, and overall it's just darker. It's been a while since I read Steal My Heart so it might not be "a lot" darker but I don't remember writing violence and torture scenes as graphic as these ones. I will give a warning if the chapter is darker but I will give a blanket warning now that the later chapters (5-8) are much darker than the earlier ones (1-4)  
> Anyways, that is all I have to say. I hope you all enjoy it!  
> A

Alec was running. 

He was only focusing on what was in front of him. He planted both feet and launched himself onto the nearby platform. He turned around and pulled an arrow from his quiver. He notched it in his bowstring and pulled back before letting the arrow fly. He jumped off the platform and kept running.

His surroundings were colorful, green grass with some kisses of fall colors in the leaves of the trees nearby, a stark contrast to the browns and greys he was used to. What he was in the middle of was entirely unnecessary, but it got his adrenaline pumping in ways it hadn’t been in years. Magnus would accuse him of being a showoff and Alec would go right back and say that it was Magnus rubbing off on him. 

He shot off another arrow before kicking off one platform and launching himself onto one that was higher. He shot off a third arrow before jumping onto another lower platform. He shot a fourth down to the ground before running and jumping off the platform. He turned when he jumped and shot a final arrow before he landed on a mat that was laid out on the ground for him. 

Alec rolled off the mat and stood up, looking back at the course behind him, and the five arrows lodged perfectly in the bullseyes behind him. He smiled to himself, proud that he was still able to do this at age thirty-one and after not shooting for eight years. Then he looked over at the small group of kids staring at him in awe. One of them began clapping and the others joined in. 

“This is what will happen if you stick with this,” Alec said, facing the kids as the applause died down, “archery is a learned discipline. If you keep with it and you keep practicing, you’ll feel prepared to go to war with your bow in your hand,”

“Mr. Lightwood-Bane?” one of the kids raised their hands. 

“Yes, what’s your question?” Alec asked. 

“How long have you been doing this?” the young boy asked. 

“Oh, I started when I was around nine years old,” Alec replied, and he saw a few of the kids’ expressions fall, as these kids were all at least twelve, “but don’t let that discourage you. I stopped when I was eighteen and didn’t pick up a bow again for almost eight years,” 

“Why did you stop?” another girl asked. 

“Uh...I got really busy with my job,” Alec said. 

“And why did you start again?” the same girl asked. 

“Because I realized I didn’t like my job, and I’d rather be teaching archery to all of you guys,” Alec said with a smile. Then he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket, “now. All of you, go get your bows and head to the range but I don’t want any of you even touching an arrow until I get there or you’ll be removed from my class, understood?”

A chorus of yes’s was heard as all the kids began moving back towards the target range. Alec pulled his phone out of his pocket and smiled when he saw his husband’s name on the screen. 

“Hey babe, what’s up? I have a class,” Alec said, not wanting to leave the kids alone for too long, not entirely trusting they’d take his threat to heart.

“Oh sorry, I thought you were on break,” Magnus replied, “my first lesson is late, so I thought I’d give you a call,” 

“Well my class is over an hour. This is my last of the day,” Alec replied, “then I’m gonna go get Rafe and Max then go pick up some stuff for dinner,”

“Oh, Max is with me,” Magnus said. 

“Why?” Alec asked. 

“I didn’t have enough time to get him to daycare,” Magnus replied, “there was a huge accident out that way and I had that whole box of donations that I needed to bring into the studio so I couldn’t take the train,”

“Alright, I’ll stop and get him first,” Alec said, “when are you gonna be home tonight?” 

“My last class is over at seven, and I’ve got some logistics stuff to do, and then I’ll be home. Probably around eight thirty or maybe nine,” Magnus said. 

“Damn, that late?” Alec asked, disappointment evident in his voice. 

“I might be able to take some of it home, but we’ve got a competition coming up I gotta make sure we’re registered and a most of the stuff I need to do that is in my office here,” Magnus sighed, “and I will have quite a distraction waiting for me at home,” 

Alec chuckled, blushing a bit, “you need to get someone to help you with the administrative stuff,”

“Yeah, that probably wouldn’t hurt,” Magnus replied, “or I could just promote Maggie,”

“Isn’t she still in high school?” Alec asked. 

“She just started college,” Magnus told him, “she’s local so she may want the pay raise,”

“Can’t hurt,” Alec began thinking of the logistics before he heard yelling from the range, “alright I gotta go. After this class I’ll come pick up Max,”

“Alright, I love you angel,” Magnus said. 

“I love you too,” Alec replied, and before either of them could say anything else, he hung up the phone and jogged over to the group of kids. 

***

An hour and a half later, Alec was driving back into the city from the archery range. After they had gotten married and Alec had taken some time to heal, mentally and physically, the two went on a very long, very well-deserved honeymoon before settling down. They’d sold Magnus’ mansion, not wanting to live in such a large house with just the two of them, and moved to a penthouse in Brooklyn. After Alec, Jace, and Izzy had split what they had in their reserves, even without Magnus’ own fortune, they had enough money that they wouldn’t have to work a day in their lives. Unfortunately for them, they got bored all too easily. 

So they went back to what they loved. In the first six months after they got married, Alec would spend way more time at the archery range than he had since he was a kid. It had been truly therapeutic for him, and had brought him back to a simpler time. He was there more than any of the staff members ever was, and he got to know them pretty quickly. They kept trying to get him to work there, and he continually refused until around their first anniversary, when he finally accepted an offer to teach classes. So for the past five years, he has been teaching archery to camps, classes, and anyone else who comes through the range and he was well on his way to running it himself. 

Magnus, on the other hand, after working at a local dance studio for two years, decided to open his own. He was going into their fourth year, having just gotten off the summer break less than a month ago. 

A car horn snapped Alec out of his thoughts as he realized he was sitting stationary in front of a green light. He raised an apologetic hand behind him as he began driving. He managed to quickly get away from the person who had beeped at him, not wanting to get stuck at another light with them. 

A few blocks later, Alec pulled into the small parking lot next to Magnus’ studio. It didn’t really count as a parking lot. It was really a driveway large enough for two cars, and Alec pulled up behind Magnus’. The studio was small, on a street corner with floor to ceiling windows, a small waiting area, and the studio itself. They certainly had the money for him to get a bigger space, but he had opted to start small, knowing a small studio would entice the kind of people he wanted to teach. 

Alec got out of the car and walked in the front door. He glanced around the empty lobby, laying eyes on the empty desk with the competition trophies on shelves behind it. On the opposite wall were posted announcements as well as photos from previous recitals and competitions. Then on the third wall, next to the door into the studio itself, was his favorite photo. It was a photo of Alec and Magnus, with baby Max wrapped in a blanket in Alec’s arms and a shy Rafael clinging to Magnus’ legs outside the studio the day it opened. It was one of Alec’s favorite photos of their family, and kept away anyone who may disapprove of their family. 

Whenever he walked into the studio he was always distracted by that photo before he glanced in the window to see his beautiful husband hard at work. Usually whenever he stopped by he wouldn’t go into the main studio itself during a lesson or a class, but he walked through because Madzie was the one dancing with him. 

“Daddy!” Max got up from where he was at the corner and ran over to his father. Alec bent down and picked up his son, who wrapped his arms tightly around Alec’s neck. 

“Alec, hi,” Madzie, now twelve, stopped dancing and waved before going over to get a drink of water. 

“Hey kiddo,” Alec said with a smile. 

“Hello darling,” Magnus came over, put both his hands on his face and kissed him. Alec sighed into the kiss. He let his free handle slide down Magnus’ side and rest on top of his ass. 

“Alec,” Magnus said under his breath, scolding him. 

“You know I love it when you wear leggings,” Alec said softly.

“He wears leggings everyday, daddy,” Max said, very matter-of-fact, reminding both of them that there was a four-year old right next to them. 

“He is right, darling,” Magnus said, “and our anniversary is Saturday, not today. Keep your hands to yourself,” 

“Fine,” Alec said, taking his hand away, “I’ll let you guys get back to it. I’ll see you later,”

“See you later, angel. I love you,” Magnus said, kissing him lightly.

“Love you too,” Alec smiled, “see you later, Madzie,”

“Bye, Alec!”

***

“Rafael!” Alec called out to his son, who walked out of the school building surrounded by other students, looking around for one of his fathers. He looked up when he heard his name called and met Alec’s eye. Alec smiled at him and Rafe offered a small wave and a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. 

This was a relatively new development with Rafe. All throughout kindergarten, he had come running out, excitedly babbling about his day before he was even within earshot of Alec. Now, after less than a month of first grade, something had changed drastically. 

“Hey Rafe,” Alec said, wrapping his free arm around his older son. Rafe leaned lightly into Alec’s leg before allowing Alec to take his hand as they walked towards the care. 

“Rafa!” Max wiggled to get out of Alec’s arms. Alec put his younger son down, who went to Rafe’s other side and took his other hand, “good day?”

“It was fine,” Rafe said quietly. Alec easily realized that today was worse than usual. Usually when Max talked to him, he was happier. Whether it was just a face so his little brother wouldn’t worry about him or if it was sincere, Alec didn’t know. He had a feeling Max realized this and would talk to him to make him happier, but when Max couldn’t cheer him up, something was clearly wrong. 

“Anything fun happen?” Alec asked, trying to get in on his conversation. 

“No,” Rafe kicked absentmindedly at the ground, not looking at them. 

“Right,” Alec said, unlocking the car. Rafe and Max both climbed into the car and Alec buckled Max into his car seat. He shut the door and got in the driver’s seat, then deciding he was going to make one more stop before they went home. 

***

“Where are we going, daddy?” Max asked when they pulled into a parking garage. 

“We’re going to get some stuff for dinner,” Alec replied, “we’re also gonna get some flowers for your papa,” 

“Ooo flowers!” Max squealed excitedly, clapping his hands. Alec got out of the car and Rafe did too. Before he went over to get Max out of his car seat, he bent down in front of his oldest son. 

“Are you okay, Rafael?” Alec asked softly, placing his hands on his son’s shoulders. 

“I just had a bad day,” he said, staring at the ground, “I want to go home,” 

“We will, after this,” Alec said, “how about we get some cake for dessert tonight? Would that make things a little better?”

“Maybe if it was an extra large piece,” Rafe replied with a smile. 

“Well, that bakery with the really good cake is on this block,” Alec said, “we’ll get you some,” 

“Thank you, daddy,” Rafe smiled. 

“Of course, kiddo,” Alec stood, “now do you think we should leave your brother in the car or should we get him out?”

Rafe laughed, “maybe we leave him for just a minute,” 

Alec laughed before moving cartoonishly slow to get Max out of his car seat, causing Rafe to laugh even harder. Once he got Max out of the car, who had been pouting about being left inside, both of them took Rafe’s hands and the three walked out onto the block together. When they walked into the market, Alec grabbed a basket, telling the boys to hold each other’s hands as they shopped. 

Alec held two bags in his hand as they exited. His other hand held Rafe’s who was holding Max’s hand as well as they went a few doors down to the bakery. 

“OO! Cake! Cake!” Max ran over to the glass display and pressed his face up against it. 

“No no, Max,” Alec pulled him away from the glass, sending the employee an apologetic look, “you don’t put your face on glass!”

“Sorry daddy,” Max said, looking down. 

“It’s okay, blueberry,” Alec said, “you can pick whatever piece of cake you want,” 

“Really?!” he ran back over to the case, taking care not to touch it this time. In the end, he had picked a cupcake decorated with his favorite cartoon character on it. Rafe got a huge piece of cake covered in more sprinkles than Alec thought was necessary for a piece of cake, and Alec got him and Magnus each a piece of chocolate cake. He gave Rafe the job of holding the bag of desserts while he picked out a nice bouquet of flowers for Magnus at the stand on the corner. 

“Which ones do you think your papa would like?” Alec asked his sons. He’d known Magnus for nearly seven years, he knew what his favorite flowers were, having gotten him flowers more times than he could count, but he also knew that he would love that his sons helped Alec pick them out. Max was enthralled by all the flowers and couldn’t pick just one, whereas Rafe pointed to a bouquet of pink lilies.

“I like those,” Rafe said softly. 

“Then we’ll get those,” Alec said with a smile, trying his best to make his eldest happy. He paid the vendor who began wrapping the bouquet up. Alec heard a car horn honk and then a crash, and he instinctively looked up towards the sound. When he looked across the street, however, he froze solid. 

Jonathan Morgenstern was standing on the other side of the street, watching him. 

“Sir. Sir!” the vendor yelled to him, flowers in his hand. 

“Right. Thanks,” Alec took the flowers as he locked eyes with Jonathan. Jonathan offered him a smile and a small wave but didn’t move from where he was standing.

Alec put a firm hand on Rafe’s back and began pushing him away from Jonathan towards where the car was parked, “boys, walk in front of me,” 

“What?” Rafe asked. 

“Start going to the car,” Alec said, trying to keep the boys out of Jonathan’s view, “quickly,” 

Rafe understood his father’s urgency. He grabbed his brother’s hand and began walking as quickly as they could. Alec put himself between Jonathan and the boys, looking over his shoulder once only to make sure he was staying put. 

When they got to the car, Alec nearly threw the groceries into the car as he quickly got Max in his carseat. He tossed Magnus’ flowers on the front seat before opening the glove compartment, ensuring his pistol was there. It was. 

He had never been a fan of guns, but a bow wasn’t the most practical weapon to carry around. After what had happened with Asmodeus, he had taken the initiative to get himself a gun. 

He pulled out of the garage. He drove past the street corner where he had seen Jonathan, but he was gone. He wanted to call Magnus immediately, but he couldn’t do that. The phone would go on speaker through the car, and Rafe already sensed that something was wrong. He didn’t want to scare them. 

He kept an eye in his rearview mirror to ensure he wasn’t being followed. He did a lap around the block their apartment building was on to guarantee they were alone. Then he pulled into the parking garage and got his kids out of the car. 

“Is everything okay, daddy?” Rafe asked, with a little more concern in his voice than Alec would’ve liked. 

“Yeah, everything’s fine. I just didn’t want you to see the accident,” Alec lied. He didn’t like to lie to his kids and neither did Magnus, but when his past was coming back to haunt him, the circumstances were different, “let’s just get inside,”

Rafe nodded, taking the bag of desserts from the trunk. 

“I wanna carry something!” Max whined. 

“Here, why don’t you carry papa’s flowers,” Alec said, handing the bouquet over. The bouquet was nearly as tall as he was, but he took it with excitement. 

“You guys go inside, I’ll be in in a minute,” Alec said, looking around. Rafe took Max’s hand and brought him into the lobby. Alec took his gun from the glove compartment, and tucked it into the waistband of his pants under his shirt. When he went to get his bags from the trunk, he grabbed the case that held his bow as well before following the boys into the building. If The Circle was coming for him again, he was not going down without a fight. 

As soon as they were inside, he sent the boys off to their rooms. Once he heard their doors close, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and called Magnus. 

He cursed when Magnus didn’t pick up. He tried again, hoping he’d see the phone ringing again and know it was urgent. When he didn’t pick up again, he sent him a text, telling him to call him immediately, and that it was urgent. 

Alec was in the middle of cooking dinner when his phone rang. He sent the boys, who were watching TV in the living room, off to their rooms before he picked up.

“Alexander, are you okay?!” Magnus asked urgently, “are the boys okay?!”

“I’m fine. We’re all fine,” Alec said, “but I was out picking up some stuff for dinner after I picked Rafe up and...I saw Jonathan Morgenstern,”

“Like, from The Circle?” Magnus asked. 

“Yes!” Alec said urgently, “and I don’t think it was coincidental. He was watching me, and...I think he saw the kids” Alec took a breath in, “I tried to hide them from him, but, I-I-I think he saw them, and I, I think they’re coming for us, for me,” 

“They can’t be,” Magnus went to reassure him, “they’re still scared of me. They’re still scared of my father,”

“But what if they found out your father’s dead?” Alec asked, “you never gave them a reason to fear you. What you did, they think you did it on behalf of your father,” 

“Everything’s going to be fine, Alexander,” Magnus insisted calmly, “I’m done with classes. I’m gonna take the rest of my work home. Do you…” he lowered his voice, “do you have your pistol?”

“Yeah, and my bow,” Alec replied, “no one besides you is getting into this apartment tonight,” 

“See? We’re going to be fine,” Magnus replied. 

“Should we still go away this weekend?” Alec asked. 

“We’ll talk about it when I get home,” Magnus replied, “I love you. See you soon,”

“I love you too,” 

***

When Magnus returned home, the boys were still in their rooms. The rooms were next to each other and connected by a bathroom, so they easily moved between them to play with each other. For that reason, Alec told them they weren’t to come out until dinner. Unbeknownst to them, Alec was preparing dinner with his pistol tucked at his side, with his bow and quiver slung over his back. 

“Alexander,” Magnus called, as he entered the loft to find all the rooms surrounding him empty. 

“In the kitchen,” Alec replied. Magnus quickly made his way into the kitchen to find Alec with the quiver on his back and the gun attached to his hip. Magnus moved to his husband and pulled him into a tight hug. Alec turned and held him tightly before kissing the top of his husband’s head, “go say hi to the boys. Get them to wash up,” 

“Are you going to wear the bow to dinner?” Magnus asked, eyebrows raised, “are we going to need a ‘no weapons at the table’ rule?” 

“No, I’m going to take it off,” Alec rolled his eyes, shoving his husband out of the room, “now go away,” 

Magnus chuckled and went down the hall. He knocked on Max’s door, knowing the boys spent more time in his room given Max’s plethora of toys. Since they had adopted him, Rafe had always been a minimalist, but that balanced nicely with Max’s need to have anything and everything he could get his hands on. When he opened the door, he saw Max on the floor playing with his toys, and Rafe sitting on the bed, watching the TV that was mounted on the wall across from the bed. 

“PAPA!” Max jumped off the ground and ran into his father’s arms. Magnus scooped him up and held him close. Rafe slowly scooted off the bed and wordlessly went over and wrapped his arms around his father tightly. Magnus let the arm that wasn’t holding Max wrap around his oldest son. 

“How was your day, Rafe?” Magnus asked, looking down at his son. 

“It was okay,” Rafe said softly, pulling away. Magnus’ face fell, clearly seeing his son’s sadness. 

“We got cake!” Max said excitedly. 

“Yeah!” a small smile crossed Rafe’s lips, “I got a really big piece with lots of sprinkles!

“Alright you two,” Magnus said, putting Max down, “daddy’s almost done with dinner, so you two wash up and come out to the kitchen if you ever want to eat that cake,”

Both boys nodded and went into their shared bathroom. Magnus exited, walking back towards the main room, where he saw Alec putting food down on the dining room table. His bow and quiver was resting on the wall behind his chair, and the gun was still strapped to his hip. 

“Should we still go away this weekend?” Alec asked without looking up. They weren’t planning on going far, just out to a romantic weekend getaway resort out in the mountains. He put the last two plates on the table and took the towel that was resting on his shoulder to wipe his hands before he tossed it back onto the kitchen counter.

“I don’t think we should put our lives on hold,” Magnus said, “and if they’re coming for you...maybe it’s best we’re away from the boys,” 

“I can’t shake the feeling...what if they come for the boys?” Alec asked. 

“They’re going to have a hard time doing that,” Magnus laughed, “they’re staying with Jace and Clary. If you think Jace is gonna let anything happen to our kids, you certainly don’t know your brother,”

“But Clary’s pregnant,” Alec countered. 

“I’m well aware of that,” Magnus replied as if he didn’t know why Alec was bringing it up. 

“I don’t want to put her in any danger,” Alec clarified, “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if anything happened to the baby,”

“Look, Alexander, let's be frank,” Magnus sighed, gripping the back of one of the chairs, “if they’re coming for you, they’re probably coming for all three of you,”

“Maybe we can ask Izzy to stay with them this weekend too,” Alec said softly. 

“That would definitely make it safer,” Magnus replied, “but how do you explain that to Simon?” 

“Oh,” Alec thought for a moment. Izzy and Simon had been together for nearly five years, but Simon didn’t know about their past. All he knew was what he learned after Magnus was arrested for killing his father. There had been numerous times he’d almost found out, and a few times they’d almost broken up because of the tension. Despite that, they always managed to work it out without Simon discovering exactly who they were. 

“Maybe,” Magnus cocked his head to the side, “maybe Jace doesn’t want to put any extra stress on Clary and wants his sister’s help watching his nephews…” 

“That could work,” Alec said, “I’ll call Jace after dinner. Great idea, babe, ” 

Alec walked around the table and pecked Magnus’ lips as the boys came down the hallway, covered in water 

“I was wondering when you two little monsters were...what happened to you two?” Magnus’ eyes went wide as he saw his kids soaking wet. 

“Max splashed me,” Rafe said, very matter-of-fact, “so I splash him back,” 

“I didn’t MEAN to splash him!” Max said, “then he splashed me and I had to splash him back to get even,” 

“Are you even now?” Alec asked, trying not to laugh as he remembered him and Izzy doing the same thing when they were kids. 

“No,” Max grumbled, crossing his arms, “but Rafe said he was hungry and we should go to dinner,”

“Well that was smart, because it’s getting cold,” Alec said, “but you can’t sit on the nice chairs soaking wet,” 

“You each go to your own rooms and change,” Magnus said, “no more water fights,”

Both mumbled their agreements before going back to the bedroom. 

“Darling,” Magnus said when he heard the doors closed, “have you noticed something...off with Rafe?”

“Yes,” Alec replied, “it’s gotten worse in the past month...I think something is happening at school,”

“I agree,” Magnus looked back down the hall, “do you think we should move him to a private school?” 

“I thought we were going to wait until middle school,” Alec replied, “why should we spend that much money on an elementary school education?” 

“Angel, our children have trust funds so large they’d never have to work a day in their lives,” Magnus rubbed his hands down Alec’s arms, “I think we can spare some money on their education,”

“I know but...I just don’t want our kids to grow up in a bubble. They’re already spoiled,” Alec sighed, pulling his husband into his arms. 

“Yeah, but a private school would be able to better cater to Rafe’s emotional trauma,” Magnus said, wrapping his arms around Alec’s waist, “I think we should have a conversation about it, maybe start researching some schools to start them there next year, when Max starts kindergarten,” 

“That probably isn’t a bad idea,” Alec said, then he glanced towards the table, “I might as well put our plates in the microwave. It’ll be tomorrow by the time they’re done changing,” 

Magnus laughed, “that’s probably a good idea,” 

Alec pressed a light kiss on his forehead before going over to the table and grabbing the plates. 

***

“Jace! Hey, what’s going on?” Alec asked. He was standing out on the balcony, leaning on the ledge with a glass of wine in his hand. Magnus was a few feet away, sitting on one of the couches, listening closely.

“I’m fine. How are you?” Jace asked, a hint of concern in his voice. 

“Um...I’ve been better,” Alec said, his head dropping. 

“Did something happen?” Jace asked urgently. 

“Um, sorta-ish,” Alec replied, “I saw Jonathan Morgenstern today,”

“Jonathan?!” Jace exclaimed, “what did he want!?”

“I don’t know, I didn’t talk to him,” Alec said, “he was just watching me,” 

“Are you guys still going away?” Jace asked. 

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” Alec said, “Magnus and I talked and agreed we’re still gonna go, because odds are they’re after me, and if that’s the case, the further we are from the boys, the better,” 

“What if they come for me?” Jace asked. 

“I was gonna ask if you minded if Izzy came over for the weekend as well,” Alec said, “it’s not that I don’t trust you, but I don’t want to put Clary or the baby in any danger, and you and Izzy together are nearly impossible to beat,”

“Yeah sure, that sounds like a good idea,” Jace agreed, “do you want me to call her?”

“No, I’ll give her a call,” Alec replied, “and we’ll drop the boys off tomorrow morning, like we planned,” 

“Alright,” Jace said, “see you tomorrow,” 

“See ya,” Alec hung up the phone and sighed. 

“We good?” Magnus asked, standing and sipping his wine. 

“Just gotta call Izzy,” Alec replied, dialing the phone, “hey Iz, what’s up?”

“Hey big brother,” Izzy replied, “you’re kinda interrupting something so...hurry up please,” 

“Alright I’ll get right to the point then,” Alec said, “I saw Jonathan Morgenstern today and I want you to stay with Jace this weekend while he watches the boys,” 

“What!?” he heard Izzy moving, presumably out of the room she was in with Simon, then she lowered her voice, “you saw Jonathan?”

“Yeah...Jace was much more shocked,” Alec commented. 

“No, because the other day...I saw him too,” Izzy said softly, “I thought I was going crazy, that I was just seeing things late at night, but now that you saw him…” 

“Goddammit, they’re coming for us, Iz,” Alec said, resting an elbow on the balcony ledge and his head in his empty hand, “they’re fucking coming for us,” 

“You don’t know that,” Izzy said, trying to comfort her brother, “they could just be keeping tabs,”

“No, I have a feeling,” Alec sighed, “you need to tell Simon,”

“I can’t,” Izzy hissed, “we’ve been together for more than five years and I haven’t told him...I can’t ever tell him,”

“You might not have the choice soon,” Alec said, “I just want you to be the one to tell him. I don’t want him to figure it out himself,” 

“I’ll handle my relationship, Alec,” Izzy said firmly, “but I’ll spend the weekend at Jace’s. What am I supposed to tell Simon?”

Alec sighed, wanting desperately for Izzy to tell him the truth but knowing it wasn’t going to happen, “just tell him that Jace didn’t want to put any more stress on Clary and he wanted an extra hand with the boys,”

“Alright,” Izzy agreed, “and the three of us are going to sit and chat when you come back,” 

“I agree,” Alec said, “thank you, Iz,” 

“Of course, brother,” Izzy said, “stay safe,”

“You too,” Alec sighed as he hung up the phone and left his head fall into his hands. Magnus came over and ran his hands over Alec’s shoulders, trying to get him to release the tension. 

“They’re coming for us, Mags,” Alec said softly, “Izzy saw Jonathan too...they’re coming for us,” 

“Alexander,” Magnus said softly, “nothing is going to happen to you. They might be coming for you, but we’re not going to let them get you, do you understand?” 

“But Magnus, what about you? What about the boys?” Alec asked, “what if they come after you guys to get to me? What about Clary and Simon? What if they come after them to get to Izzy and Jace…”

“Alexander, darling, it’s going to be fine,” Magnus said, “we’re not going to let anything happen,”

“I knew it was too good to be true,” Alec said under his breath, “I knew getting away from them was too good to be true and now...now there’s fucking collateral!” he kicked the edge of the balcony, not caring how much it hurt his foot

“Alexander! Snap out of it!” Magnus yelled as he grabbed Alec by the shoulders and spun him so they were looking each other in the eye, “I am not collateral and neither are our children! Yes, they very well might be coming for you. They might be coming for your siblings, but none of us are going to let anything happen to any of us, especially to our boys. Even if we all have to run and set up a new life somewhere else, nothing is going to happen to our family,”

“But I don’t want to uproot our lives! Our family’s lives-” Alec was cut off when Magnus kissed him. He put his now empty wine glass on the ledge next to Alec’s full one.

“Relax, angel,” Magnus said, kissing Alec’s jawline, “Saturday is our sixth wedding anniversary,” he pressed a few more kisses down his neck, “we’re going to have two nights all to ourselves,” he began sucking a spot on Alec’s neck, “I’m gonna bring the box with us…” he let his tongue dip under the neckline of Alec’s shirt, “I’m gonna let you take me apart piece by piece…”

“Jesus Christ, Mags, if you don’t stop soon I’m gonna take you apart piece by piece right here on this balcony,” Alec said, letting his head fall back as Magnus continued sucking at his neck. 

“Mmh that’s hot,” Magnus moaned. 

“Magnus, the boys are inside,” Alec said, trying to push him away. 

“They’re asleep,” Magnus replied, still sucking and biting at Alec’s neck. 

“They’re probably not,” Alec said firmly, placing both his hands on Magnus’ shoulders. Then a devilish smirk appear on his face, “just give it an hour or two and we’ll come right back here,” 

“Oh you’re going to be the death of me, Alexander,” Magnus said, leaning against his chest. 

“Not if you kill me first,” Alec replied. 

***

The following evening, Alec was driving himself, Magnus, and their kids through the gates of the community Jace and Clary lived in. Once they had learned Clary was pregnant, they had decided they wanted to move out of the city and into the suburbs. They had moved less than a month ago and their house wasn’t anywhere near unpacked, but their community was gated. To get into the development, someone who lived there had to tell the front gate that their guests were coming. The Circle wasn’t getting to Jace and Clary’s house unless they invited them in.

When they had initially told Max and Rafe that they would be sleeping on the floor of an empty guest room, Max scoffed at the idea, being the spoiled little child that he was. Once Alec and Magnus had framed it to him as an indoor camping trip, he had been all for it, but only if Uncle Jace slept on the floor with them. Alec had found a bit of joy in telling his brother that he would have to sleep on the floor with his nephews. 

“Uncle Jace!” Max saw his uncle standing on the porch and instantly began trying to undo the buckles of his car seat. Rafe unbuckled his own seatbelt and leaned over to help his brother out of his seat. 

“You stay seated in that seat until this car stops,” Magnus said, looking at the boys in the rearview mirror just as Max jumped out of his carseat. They both heard his father’s strict tone and silently climbed back into their seats. Alec smirked as he pulled the car into the driveway behind Jace’s and the second Max felt the car stop he jumped out of his seat and went to pull the door open. Rafe was right behind him. 

“UNCLE JACE!” Max yelled, running with his arms outstretched. Jace bent down to hug his nephew. The small boy ran into Jace’s arms and wrapped himself as much as he could around his uncle. Rafe went running up behind his little brother and wrapped his arms around his uncle

“How are you, Max?” Jace asked, looking down at his nephew. 

“So good! We’re going indoor camping!” Max said excitedly. 

“And how are you, Rafael?” Jace asked, looking over at Alec and Magnus as they walked up with the boys’ bags. 

“I’m okay,” he said into Jace’s neck. 

“Are you excited for the weekend?” Jace asked. 

“Yeah,” Rafe nodded, “can we have Aunt Clary’s pasta for dinner?” 

“We sure can, little man,” Jace smiled

“Where’s Clary?” Alec asked, briefly hugging his brother after he was done hugging his sons. 

“She’s napping,” Jace replied, “she’s been having such a hard time sleeping lately I didn’t want to wake her,” 

“I get it,” Alec said, “no need to wake her for us,”

“Max, Rafe,” Magnus bent down in front of his sons, “you need to be very quiet when we go inside. Your Aunt Clary is still sleep,”

“Is the baby still inside Aunt Clary?” Max tugged on Jace’s pant leg.

“Yes, and it makes her sleepy, so you have to be very quiet,” Jace said. Max nodded and shushed everyone around him, causing them all to laugh.

“She still has the baby in her?” Rafe whined, “does that mean she can’t play with us?”

“She can still play with you,” Jace assured his nephews, “just not when she’s asleep,”

Max and Rafe nodded before following Jace into the house. Magnus gave Alec’s hand a reassuring squeeze before taking the boys’ bags inside while Alec stayed on the porch waiting for his sister. She pulled up moments later, and Alec’s face dropped a little when Simon stepped out of the car as well. 

“Big brother!” Izzy said with a smile, before pulling Alec into a tight hug and whispering in his ear, “I’m sorry he insisted he come. He’s just staying for dinner,” 

“Don’t worry about it,” Alec mumbled back. Izzy pulled away as Simon approached. 

“Simon,” Alec said, shaking his hand. 

“Alec,” Simon nodded, “good to see you,”

“Good to see you too, I didn’t know you were coming,” Alec plastered on a fake smile, “shall we?” Alec asked, gesturing to the house. Simon entered first and Izzy and Alec stayed behind for a moment. 

“What do we do?” she asked, “we need to talk before you and Magnus leave,”

“I’m sure we can get the boys to pull him away from us,” Alec said, following Simon into the house. Izzy came in last, bolting the door behind them. 

When they entered the kitchen, Simon was sitting on the floor talking to the boys softly while Jace and Magnus exchanged pleasantries. 

“Boys,” Alec said, “why don’t you and Simon go set up your tent,”

“It’s already in the room,” Jace said, “it’s the first empty room at the top of the stairs,”

“Alright,” Simon stood, looking around as none of the rest of them moved to go with them, “let’s go have some fun boys,” 

Simon took each of the boys by the hand and began leading them up the stairs. 

“That should keep them busy,” Magnus said softly. 

“What the hell is going on?” Jace asked urgently. 

“I don’t know,” Alec said, “my best guess...The Circle is coming for us,”

“You think this just cause you saw Jonathan?” Jace asked. 

“I saw him too,” Izzy cut in, “a few nights ago I saw him across the street from my apartment. I thought I was going crazy until Alec called me,”

“And I saw him a few blocks from Magnus’ studio,” Alec replied, “they know where Izzy lives, they know where Magnus’ studio is, they’re watching us,” 

“That doesn’t mean they’re coming for us,” Jace insisted. 

“Do you have a better explanation?” Alec asked. Jace clenched his jaw before looking at the floor and shaking his head. 

“Look, nothing is going to happen,” Izzy insisted, “they might be coming for us, but we’ll be prepared. We’re a lot stronger than we were. They don’t have anything to hold over us,”

“I mean, except for the fact that we’re criminals and they could turn us into the cops, into your boyfriend, at any moment,” Jace insisted. 

“Then we’d bring down their entire operation,” Izzy said, ignoring the obvious criticism in Jace’s voice. Both of her brothers insisted she tell Simon the truth and deep down she knew that she should too, but she just could never bring herself to do it. She was too afraid of losing him, “and they know turning us in would bring them down too. As long as they don’t get their hands on any of us, we’ll be fine,”

“And they’re not going to lay a hand on any of us, especially our boys,” Magnus gripped Alec’s ever tightening fist, knowing what Izzy’s comment brought to the forefront of his mind, “no one in this house is going to let anything happen to them,”

“Izzy, you need to tell Simon,” Alec looked up at his sister, “there’s a good chance this gets out of hand. He needs to know,” 

“And what do I do if he tries to arrest me?” Izzy asked, “I can’t kill him,” 

“I don’t think he’d try to arrest you,” Alec said. 

“I’d like to think he wouldn’t,” Izzy replied, “but I just don’t know,”

“You’ve been dating the guy for five years for Christ’s sake!” Jace laughed a little, “I feel like you should know him by now,”

“I do I just...I don’t know,” she sighed, “I think he’s gonna ask me to marry him. I found a receipt from a jewelry store the other day,” 

“All the more reason to tell him,” Jace said, “and soon,”

“And it might not hurt to have him on our side if things go south,” Alec added. 

“Fine! Fine, I’ll tell him,” Izzy yelled, throwing up her hands in defeat. 

“Good,” Alec said, “Jace, go switch places with Simon, send him down here,”

“What? Now?!” Izzy’s eyes widened, “in front of you guys?!”

“Magnus and I will leave,” Alec said, “but you need to do it before you chicken out,” 

“Right...right...okay…” Izzy nodded and tried to breath through her impending panic attack as Jace went up the stairs

“Magnus and I will go out front,” Alec said, taking Magnus’s hand, “in case he tries to run,”

“Please don’t kill him,” Izzy looked at her brother with pleading eyes. 

“I won’t,” Alec assured her before taking Magnus’ hand and walking out the front door. Izzy’s foot started anxiously tapping as she heard Simon coming down the stairs. 

“Izzy?” 

Izzy whipped around when he saw Simon standing in the doorway of the kitchen. 

“Are you okay?” he took a few steps towards her, “Jace said you wanted to talk to me?” 

“Yeah,” Izzy bit her lip, “um...you might want to sit down,”

“Is everything okay?” Simon asked, pulling out one of the stools at the island and sitting down before his eyes widened, “are you pregnant?!”

“What?! No! No, I’m not pregnant,” Izzy shook her head, staring at the ground. 

“Then what’s wrong?” Simon asked. 

Izzy sighed and tapped her foot, “you love me, right?”

“Of course I do,” Simon said softly, letting his hand come to rest on her cheek, “you’re starting to scare me, Iz,”

“Well I’m scared,” Izzy laughed a little, “okay...I’m just gonna say it,”

“Okay,” Simon looked at her. 

“My siblings and I were the Shadowhunters,” Izzy said quickly, shutting her eyes as she did, not wanting to see Simon’s reaction. 

“What?” Simon’s voice was soft but harsh, almost as if he was hoping she was just playing some kind of cruel joke. But deep down he knew she would never joke about something like this.

“We were the Shadowhunters,” Izzy repeated herself, softer this time. 

“You’re not messing with me? You’re being serious?” Simon asked and she didn’t react, “Isabelle, look at me,”

Izzy looked up at him with tears threatening to spill from her eyes, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I never expected our relationship to develop into what it is and then I was just...I was too scared to tell you,”

“So why tell me now?” Simon asked, clearly angry, “why not just continue to lie?”

“We worked with The Circle,” Izzy said, “and when Alec was kidnapped we managed to escape from them but...but we think they’re back for us,”

“Goddammit,” Simon stood and began walking towards the front door.

“Simon!” Izzy chased after him, “I’m sorry but I wanted you to hear it from me,”

“I don’t want to talk to you,” Simon said harshly, opening the front door. Before he could get any further Alec grabbed him by the shoulder and pushed him up against the wall with his gun clearly visible. 

“You can’t go anywhere, Simon,” Alec said, looking Simon dead in the eye. Simon stared back at him, not quite sure what to say to the man who he thought would be his brother in law one day but was nothing more than a thief and a criminal. 

“Simon! Please!” Izzy called as she ran out the door. 

“I don’t want to be around any of you,” Simon said after looking at Izzy, trying to push away from him, but Alec held him there. 

“You can’t tell anyone,” Alec told him, not breaking their gaze, “they’re coming for us and if we get arrested, there won’t be anyone here to protect you, Clary, Magnus, or our children, so if you walk away from us you are effective killing all of you,” 

Simon sighed and thought for a moment, “I am not going to tell anyone,” 

“Why should I believe you?” Alec asked, hand on the gun.

“Because I keep my fucking word,” Simon spat out, pushing out of Alec’s grip. Alec took a step back, happy with his answer and ready to let him make his own decision on the matter. 

“I don’t want anything to do with any of you,” he declared suddenly before turning to Izzy and pointing, “especially you,”

“Simon,” Izzy choked out, tears spilling out of her eyes, “please!”

There was a small part of him that hesitated. That saw past the lies, that saw through her past and just saw the woman he loved in tears in the doorway. His hand twitched, wanting to reach out and take her into his arms. Izzy held her breath as he stood there, making his decision. 

He shook his head lightly, dropping his hand and turning away from all of them. 

“Simon! Simon!” Izzy called after him as he went down the stairs towards the car.

“Isabelle, stop,” Simon said firmly, turning to face her. Izzy stopped where she stood a few steps away from him. 

“Please, listen to me,” Izzy begged, “I didn’t tell you because I was afraid of this! I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you but I couldn’t bear to lose you! Please! Stay with me, please! Simon, I love you,”

“I love you too, Isabelle,” Simon sighed before reaching into his pocket before removing a small velvet box, “I was gonna give this to you today. That’s why I wanted to come with you,” 

Izzy watched him carefully, looking for any sign of what he might be feeling as he opened the box. 

“Simon…” Izzy took a step forward and reached out her hand to him. He looked up at her and there were tears in his eyes as well. 

“Please stop,” Simon said, “you lied to me about who you were, about what you did,”

“I know and I’m sorry!” Izzy pleaded, “please, just give me another chance,”

“I can’t, Isabelle. I’m sorry,” Simon wiped his eyes before taking the ring out of the box. Before he could truly think about the consequences of his actions, he dropped the ring on the ground and slammed into it with the heel of his boot. Izzy let out a short sob as he dropped the box on the ground before turning away. Her sobs stopped him for a moment and he very nearly turned back but he knew if he did he would get sucked right back in and he just couldn’t do that. He wiped his eyes and got in the car, driving away in a second. 

“Simon…” Izzy said softly, but he didn’t look back. He got in the car and drove off. 

“Izzy…” Alec began stepping down off the porch and walking towards his sister.

“Don’t talk to me!” Izzy spat, more anger in her voice to hide the hurt. She turned on her heels and walked past Alec, bumping his shoulder as she walked back into the house, “just don’t fucking talk to me,”

***

“Alexander,” Magnus was running his fingers through his sleeping husband’s hair, “Alexander, darling, you need to wake up,”

Alec still had nightmares. 

They had subsided as the years had passed, but he would still have nightmares that woke Magnus. 

“Mags…” Alec mumbled in his sleep before he rolled away from him and away from his hand. 

“Alexander, you need to wake up,” Magnus rolled so he was leaning over Alec. He continued running his hand through his hair, putting a little more pressure on his head, trying to wake him up, “please wake up,” 

Alec’s eyes shot open as he fell onto his back, taking in deep breaths as he looked around, grabbing at the sheets as he came back into reality. 

“Shh, relax angel, you’re okay,” Magnus said, putting a hand on his husband's cheek and pulling their heads together. 

“We’re at home?” Alec asked, putting his hand on the back of his husband’s neck, pulling him as close as possible. 

“No,” Magnus said softly, “we’re at the resort, the boys are with your brother, we’re all okay,” 

Alec nodded, taking a few more moments to breath before pulling away and looking at his husband. 

“Wanna talk about it?” Magnus asked, looking at him with raised eyebrows. 

“It was the same as usual,” Alec brushed him off, pulling the blankets back around him as he exhaled. Magnus followed suit, taking his hand and interlacing their fingers. 

“I can hear you thinking, darling,” Magnus said, brushing some of the hair from Alec’s forehead, “what’s going on in your head?” 

“I’m scared,” Alec whispered. 

“I know,” Magnus said, rolling over so he could wrap his arm around him, “but we’ll be ready. We beat my father, we can beat The Circle too,”

“How can we be sure?” Alec asked, staring up at the ceiling, “if anything happens to the boys, I’ll...I’ll never forgive myself,”

“Alexander,” Magnus put his hand to Alec’s face and turned it to face him, “if anything happens to our children, you and I will burn heaven and earth. We’re stronger now, they don’t know who they’re dealing with anymore,”

“Yeah...yeah, you’re right,” Alec sighed, “it’s just...they shot me...they killed my brother...they killed my mom...I don’t want the same thing to happen to our kids...”

“I know, Alexander, and it won’t,” Magnus said softly, running a hand soothingly through Alec’s hair before letting it rest again on his cheek, “you didn’t know then but you know now,” Magnus insisted, “You’re lethal, darling. I’m lethal,”

Alec chuckled a little at that. 

“Nothing’s going to happen,” Magnus insisted, pressing a few kisses to his shoulder and neck, “and if something does happen, we’re prepared to handle it,”

“You’re right,” Alec said, rolling on his side to face Magnus, letting his hand come to the back of his husband’s neck, “nothing’s going to happen,”

“That’s right,” Magnus smiled, planting a light kiss on his lips, “nothing is going to happen,” 

Alec smiled before kissing him as he pulled him close, “what time is it?”

“I don’t know, a little after one, I think,” Magnus replied. 

“Well then,” Alec smiled, “happy anniversary, Magnus,”

“Happy anniversary, angel,” Magnus smiled, kissing him again. 

***

Two days later, Alec and Jace stood on Jace’s porch while Magnus was inside wrangling the boys. They were both a little disappointed that afternoon when they’d had to pack up and leave their alone time behind them, but given the current circumstances, they were more than ready to have the boys home with them again 

“Have you talked to Izzy?” Alec asked Jace. 

“No,” Jace replied, “all I know is she’s been staying at the firehouse. After you guys left she ate a very silent and awkward dinner with us then had Clary drive her over to the firehouse. She’s been ignoring me all weekend. Clary went over there a few hours ago and I’m assuming they’re talking since she isn’t back yet,” 

“Okay, keep me posted,” Alec said, “she hasn’t been talking to me either,” 

“Sure thing,” Jace smiled before they heard one of the boys scream inside. Alec looked at Jace before the two went running inside where they saw Max standing in the living room with tears in his eyes and Magnus on his way out of the kitchen.

“What’s wrong?!” Alec asked, trying his best to remain calm. 

“Rafa ate my cookie!” Max cried, “we made cookies with Aunt Clary yesterday and I made a cookie that looked like me and Rafa just ate it!” 

“Rafe!” Alec scolded. 

“The cookie that looked like me got burnt!” Rafe yelled, coming out of the kitchen, “I needed a cookie!” 

“You still shouldn’t have eaten your brother’s,” Alec said with his hands on his hips, “apologize to him,”

“Dad!” Rafe whined. 

“Rafe,” Alec scolded, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m sorry, Max,” he mumbled. 

“It’s okay,” Max said, hugging his brother, “the next time we make cookies, I’ll make two that look like me so you can have one too,”

“Okay,” Rafe laughed a little, hugging him back. 

Alec laughed, picking up his youngest son who wrapped his arms around his neck, “let’s go home. Say goodbye to Uncle Jace,”

“Bye Uncle Jace!” Max and Rafe said as Magnus gathered their bags. 

“Wait!” Max yelled, “where’s boo bunny?!” 

“Wait here, I’ll go look upstairs,” Jace said, taking the stairs two at a time. A moment later he returned with Max’s favorite blue stuffed rabbit in his hands, “there you go, kiddo,”

“What do you say?” Alec asked him. 

“Thank you, Uncle Jace,” Max smiled, hugging his bunny. 

“Thanks again for watching them,” Alec said. 

“No problem. Stay safe,” Jace said, shaking Alec’s hand as he made his way towards the door. 

“You too,” Alec replied. 

***

Alec groaned as his alarm went off the next morning. He quickly shut it off so he didn’t wake his husband. Magnus worked later, so most days Alec took Rafe to school in the morning. Alec also had a long drive out of the city and to the range which rush hour always made worse, so he’d usually end up getting there right on time. Most days, Max would get up with Rafe, but Magnus didn’t take him to day care until he left for the studio in the afternoon. 

Magnus groaned as Alec rolled out of bed, reaching and grabbing for his husband, wanting him to stay. Alec dodged his hands, knowing if Magnus managed to grab him and pull him back down he’d never leave. Alec tucked the blankets back around his husband before pressing a kiss to his forehead and going into the bathroom to get a shower. 

“Do you want me to get up?” Magnus mumbled when Alec came back in from his shower. 

“No, go back to sleep, babe,” Alec replied, pulling a shirt out of the closet, “I’ll see you this afternoon,” 

“Hmm...okay,” Magnus hummed as he rolled back over. 

Alec always got up nearly an hour before the boys did. It allowed him the time to shower, make them breakfast, pack Rafe’s lunch, and get in a quick workout if he had time before they even got up. He didn’t have to leave the kitchen or his workout every other minute to make sure they weren’t getting up to anything, which was always a possibility.

He shut the master bedroom door silently before going into the kitchen. He pulled out food to make Rafe’s lunch as well as their breakfast. Alec hummed softly as he moved around the kitchen. He loved his family, but he also did enjoy his hour of alone time every morning. He made the lunch and put it back in the fridge before focusing fully on breakfast. He made four plates, one of which he left in the fridge for Magnus when he woke up. 

Alec left the other three plates at the table before going down the hallway towards the boys room, not having time for a workout. It wasn’t often that Alec had to wake them up, but Jace had promised to tire them out for him. It was five minutes after they were usually out of their rooms so he went down to get them moving. He knocked lightly on Rafe’s door before opening it. 

“Rafe?” Alec took a few steps into the room, “it’s time to get up kiddo,” 

His heart rate picked up when he saw Rafe’s bed was empty. 

“Rafe?!” he called, moving towards the closed bathroom door. He opened it to find the bathroom empty. He threw the door into Max’s room open and quickly reached for the lightswitch. His room was empty as well. 

“Max?! Rafael?!” Alec frantically searched the room. He looked under Max’s bed and in his closet before running back into Rafe’s room and checking the same spots. He ran out of both the boy’s rooms and ran into their office to find that empty as well. 

“MAGNUS!” Alec yelled and pounded quickly on the master bedroom door as he went past before running back into Max’s room. He tore through everything they might be hiding in, the piles of clothes and toys Max left on his floor, “MAGNUS! GET IN HERE!”

“What?! What’s wrong?!” Magnus came running into the room disheveled in his underwear. All he saw was his husband on his knees with his back to him gripping some of Max’s toys in his hand.

“The boys,” Alec swallowed, breathing heavy as he turned to face him with tears in his eyes, “they’re gone,”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alec and Magnus find out who took the boys and begin to plan their rescue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn, I thought it was never going to be Friday! Excited to finally be here with chapter 2!

Alec, Magnus, Jace, Clary, and Izzy all sat in silence in Alec and Magnus’ living room not even an hour later. When Magnus had come into Max’s room, he texted his brother and sister in law, telling them to come over immediately. He then spent the time until they arrived on Max’s bedroom floor with his husband, both silent as they cried, wrapped around each other, clinging to each other for dear life, trying not to imagine where their boys were and what was being done to them. 

Clary sat curled into her husband’s side, her hands resting protectively over her stomach. She’d been pregnant for five months and already couldn’t fathom something like this happening to her child. 

“They didn’t leave anything?” Izzy broke the silence, looking up at everyone cautiously. 

“No, nothing,” Alec replied softly, not even looking at his little sister. He was sitting next to Magnus, and the two of them were pressed into each other’s sides, with their hands clasped together between them. 

“Are we sure this is the Circle?” Izzy asked, “I mean...they’ve never messed with kids before,”

“Who else would it be?” Alec shot back, “maybe something’s changed, I don’t know. But I have no doubt it’s them,” 

“Do you think they’re alive?” Jace asked, barely audible, but asking the question no one else dared to. 

“They have to be,” Magnus insisted, “if they were just going to kill them, why would they take them? Why not do it here? That would make more of a point,”

“I think I’m gonna be sick,” Clary stood from the couch and ran towards the bathroom, clutching her stomach as she went. Jace quickly stood and went after her, not wanting her to be alone. 

“What do we do?” Izzy asked. 

“We’re going to go to every one of their bases that we remember,” Alec said firmly, “we’re going to find our children even if we have to kill every last Circle member to do it,” 

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” 

All three of them turned around to see Jonathan Morgenstern standing in the doorway of their balcony. He was leaning smugly against the doorframe, his arms crossed in front of him. He had a shit-eating grin on his face that Alec just wanted to slap off. Immediately, there were three guns trained on him, but all he did was laugh and push himself off the door, taking a few steps into the loft. 

“Are you really going to shoot the man who’s holding your children hostage?” Jonathan laughed. 

“Without hesitation,” Alec said, cocking the gun as he moved this finger to pull the trigger. 

“I wouldn’t,” Jonathan replied, “I’m the only one who knows where they are so if I don’t come back, they’ll just die of thirst before you’ll even get close to finding them,”

“Where the hell are they?” Magnus asked, “if you don’t tell me right now, I will contact my father and-”

“Oh shut UP, Bane! We know your father is dead!” Jonathan yelled. Magnus’ grip on his gun only faltered slightly, “if any of you kill me, you’re killing those kids, so you can put your guns away now,” 

“What do you want?” Alec asked, slowly lowering his gun and tucking it away. Magnus and Izzy did the same. 

“It’s very simple,” Jonathan said, pulling out one of the chairs at the dining room table and sitting down, “I need a job done,” 

“Like hell we’re going to do anything for you again,” 

Everyone turned and saw Jace stepping out of the hallway with his gun pointed at Jonathan. 

“Jace, put your gun down,” Alec said. 

“Like hell, Alec, you think I’m going to let him waltz in here and-”

“He has my children put your goddamn gun down!” Alec yelled as he cut him off. Jace looked between Jonathan and Alec before lowering his gun. He didn’t put his away, just held it at his side. 

“So you need a job done,” Magnus repeated. 

“You have an entire gang at your disposal, use them!” Izzy yelled, “we paid you! You swore to leave us alone!” 

“I’m aware of that. But alas! My father is a fickle man. I am a fickle man,” Jonathan replied, “and we don’t have a crew in our ranks that could pull off this job. Plus it’s a deathwish and we wouldn’t put one of our own up to it,”

“Then why do it at all?” Alec asked, “what could be so important that you kidnap my children?”

“You’ll see,” he replied and stood, “I’ll be in touch,”

“Don’t you dare walk out of his house,” Magnus said, walking towards him, “you tell me where my boys are, right now or-”

“You’ll what? Kill me?” Jonathan laughed as he made his way back to the balcony, “I don’t think so. In the meantime, don’t go to the police. I wouldn’t want to see your children hurt,”

“You wouldn’t hurt them,” Alec growled. 

“Me personally? No, I wouldn’t,” Jonathan replied, leaning against the doorframe again, “but I have countless minions who will do it for me,” 

“You’re a monster!” Magnus yelled. 

“Yes, I thought that was obvious,” Jonathan pursed his lips, “I’ll be in touch,” 

And with that, he walked back onto the balcony, shutting the door behind him and moving out of their view. Magnus moved quickly, wanting to know how the hell he got onto it in the first place, throwing the door open so hard it bounced back. Alec, nearly getting hit by the rebounding door, followed out onto the balcony and looked around. He saw a small rope ladder hanging down from the roof of the building. 

“There!” Alec pointed as he ran towards it. He climbed the ladder and looked around the roof, seeing it was empty. 

“Well, that’s how they got in last night,” Magnus sighed, still standing on the ladder as he held the edge of the room, “did we even lock the balcony door?”

“Where the hell did he go?” Alec asked, looking around and ignoring Magnus’ question 

“He probably jumped onto one of the other buildings,” Magnus sighed. Alec groaned and sat down on the roof, not caring as the pebbles dug into his skin. He buried his head in his hands and let out a long breath, a few tears slipping from his eyes. 

“Alexander, darling, come inside,” Magnus said, “let’s cut this ladder down,” 

Alec nodded, standing as Magnus began climbing back down the ladder. Alec climbed down as well before Magnus removed the knife he kept in his boot. He cut the rope ladder down before following Alec back inside. 

“Did you find him?” Izzy asked, standing from her spot on the couch. 

“No,” Alec replied, “he’s gone,”

“A job,” Jace pondered as he moved to the couch, tucking his gun away, “we can do a job. We can get them back,” 

“But Jonathan said it was a death wish,” Alec replied, joining his brother on the couch. 

“Hey I heard voices,” Clary said as she emerged from the hallway, hunched over slightly and leaning on the wall with a hand still over her stomach, “is everything alright?” 

“Jonathan was just here,” Magnus said, tossing the rope ladder on the dining room table. 

“Wait. Jonathan Jonathan? Like, from the Circle?” Clary asked, looking between her husband and her brother-in-law. 

“Yeah. Jonathan from the Circle,” Jace replied, “they’ve got the kids,”

“Where is he?” Clary asked, “what do they want?”

“He ran off,” Alec said, “they want us to do a job,”

“What’s the job?” Clary asked. 

“We don’t know yet,” Alec replied, “he just said it was a deathwish,”

“Are you okay?” Izzy asked walking over and taking Clary’s hand. 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Clary replied, “my hormones are just all over the place right now,”

“We have a package downstairs,” Magnus said, looking up from his phone, “doorman just sent me a message,”

“Did you order anything?” Alec asked him.

“No,” Magnus replied, “did you?”

“No,” Alec stood up, “I’ll go get it,” 

The room went silent after Alec shut the door. Clary moved to the couch and sat next to Jace, hands still over her stomach as she leaned into Jace’s side. Izzy sat down on the couch as Magnus grabbed the rope ladder he had thrown on the table and put it in the garbage can they kept in the kitchen. He was instantly back in the living room when he heard the door open and he saw Alec enter with a small box in his hand. 

“It was hand delivered,” Alec said, “no return address or anything,” 

“What’s in it?” Jace asked. 

“I haven’t opened it yet,” Alec replied, trying not to roll his eyes at his younger brother

“Well, is it heavy?” he followed up. 

“No,” Alec sat in one of their armchairs, setting the box on the coffee table. Magnus came to stand behind him, a comforting hand on his husband’s shoulder. Alec exhaled loudly before leaning forward and slowly pulling the tape off the package. He tried to push the worst out of his head, but he couldn’t. He opened the flaps and relaxed when he saw the contents. He was expecting something much worse. 

The first thing he pulled out was Max’s boo bunny. Alec and Magnus had called it blue bunny when they got it, but when Max started speaking he hadn’t been able to pronounce blue, so it had become boo. Alec could cry looking at it. They had taken their son with his favorite toy in hand and then ripped it away from him. A sob racked through the silent room and Alec looked up to see Clary sobbing into Jace’s shoulder. 

“I’m sorry,” she said before inhaling softly, crying some more, “these are your kids. I should be able to...if you can keep it together I should be able to hold it together,”

“It’s okay,” Magnus said softly, leaning over and rubbing his hand down her back, “please, don’t hold in what you’re feeling. We’re all processing this differently,”

She nodded as she cried, leaning into Jace’s side. It was taking every ounce of Alec’s self control not to burst into tears right then and there. He had cried earlier before their family had arrived, but he needed to keep his head clear for now, enough so that he could think straight to begin to formulate a plan. They wouldn’t be getting their boys back if he was a blubbering mess. 

“There’s more,” Alec said softly, pulling two photos out of the box. He gasped at the first as tears filled his eyes. There were his boys, sitting on the floor of a dark stone room with chains around their ankles. Rafe held Max tightly, clearly trying to protect his little brother. His face was dirty and there was a bit of blood running down the side of it. Max had tears streaming down his face and there were tear tracks in the dirt on Rafe’s face. He felt Magnus’ grip tighten on his shoulder as the two looked at the photo of their sons. 

“I’m gonna kill them,” Magnus said softly. 

“Not if I kill them first,” Alec replied. 

“Can...can I see?” Izzy asked, not sure if she wanted to. Alec nodded, handing her the first photo. She gasped when she saw it. 

“Oh god,” Jace said, leaning over to look at it. He kept Clary away from it, knowing she wouldn’t be able to handle it. 

“What’s the other one?” Izzy asked. 

“It’s a photo of the Seelie Court,” Alec said. 

“They want us to rob the Seelie Court?!” Jace nearly yelled, “how the hell...no one’s ever robbed the Seelie Court! No one who hasn’t been invited there has ever even crossed the threshold!” 

“We’ll just have to get invited,” Alec said softly, “Jonathan said it was a deathwish…” 

“I thought he was being overdramatic,” Izzy was shocked, “but the Seelie Court...we actually will die. I will die. I can’t go back to the fucking Seelie Court, I can’t see him again...” 

“So when do we go in?” Magnus asked. 

“We?” Alec stood, “no. Uh-uh. Absolutely not. No. You’re not going in there,” 

“You think I’m not going to help get our children back?!” Magnus nearly yelled. 

“Our children are going to need someone to come back to!” Alec yelled back. Magnus paused a moment, searching his husband’s eyes. He was serious about this. 

“You think I’m going to let you go on a suicide mission?!” Magnus’ voice was rough. Alec rolled his eyes, “you’re insane,”

“Guys!” Izzy yelled, “we can argue about this when we have a plan,”

“Izzy’s right,” Jace chimed in, “we don’t even know what they want us to steal,”

“And we have to find a way in,” Izzy continued. 

“We need to do it fast,” Alec said, “I’m not leaving my kids...I’m getting them out of there as fast as possible,”

“I know,” Izzy said, “but we can’t start planning until we know what they want us to steal,” 

“Quite right,” 

Everyone looked around as they heard Jonathan’s voice, trying to find him again, but he was nowhere to be found. 

“You won’t find me anywhere in your house,” Jonathan sing-songed. 

“Did you bug our house?!” Magnus yelled. 

“Yes, and you’ll do well to leave them there,” Jonathan replied nonchalantly. 

“What do you want us to steal?” Alec asked softly, trying to keep his emotions under control and destroy the house trying to find every bug the Circle had planted. 

“Easy, jewelry,” Jonathan replied, “we wouldn’t be asking you if it was anything else,”

“Why do you need jewelry from the Seelie Court?” Jace asked, “there so many priceless jewels all around New York that aren’t in the most secure building in the city,”

“Yes, but the Seelie Court also has a reputation. I’m sure you know,” Jonathan replied, “if the Circle breaks into the Seelie Court and succeeds in stealing something, especially their most valued heirlooms, we will be the most feared organization in all of New York City,”

“So you’re doing this for your reputation?!” Alec yelled, “you kidnapped our children for your fucking reputation?!” 

Everyone in the room was slightly taken aback by Alec’s yelling, as he hardly ever got this angry. 

“Calm down now, Alec,” Jonathan chastised him, “it would do your children well if you were kind to me,”

“You’re fucking sick,” Alec spat, sitting back down, “how do you even expect us to get into the Seelie Court,” 

“They’re having a party this weekend,” Jonathan said, “fancy, black tie, very nice. That’s your way in,”

“This weekend?!” Magnus nearly yelled, “you’re going to hold our children for a whole week!?”

“Trust they’ll be well taken care of, so long as you behave,” Jonathan smiled

“Do you have an invitation for us?” Izzy asked, quickly changing the subject before Alec or Magnus could begin yelling again. 

“That’s for you to figure out. I’m sure your ex might be able to help you,” Jonathan replied, “in the meantime, Jace, I will send you the specs on what we want so you can begin crafting replicas. Just remember, we’ll be watching,”

And with that Jonathan went silent. 

“I’m gonna go to the firehouse,” Jace said softly, “might be smart if we set up an operation over there,” 

“Probably wouldn’t hurt,” Izzy replied, “I’ll join you,”

“Are you guys gonna be okay?” Jace asked. 

“We’ll be fine,” Alec replied, “get to work,” 

“Alright,” Jace stood and Clary stood with him. He gave his brother a hug before he left the apartment. 

“Are you sure you guys are gonna be okay?” Izzy asked, pulling her brother and brother-in-law into a hug. 

“We’ll be fine,” Alec assured her, “go start finding us a way into that party, preferable without contacting Meliorn,” 

“Don’t worry, I’m going to do everything I can to avoid Meliorn,” Izzy said before leaving, closing the door softly behind her. They stood in silence for a moment as they heard her footsteps moving away from the apartment. The second they were out of earshot, Alec let go of the hold he had on himself and a sob racked through his body. 

“Alexander!” Magnus said, shocked, catching his husband as he fell into his arms. Alec tried to hold the sobs back but they kept coming, his whole body shaking as Magnus held him tight. Magnus began crying as well, not as hard as his husband, but more than just a few tears. 

“This is my fault,” Alec blubbered into Magnus’ shoulder, “it’s all my fault,”

“Shh, it’s not,” Magnus’ voice shook as he spoke but he ran his hand through his husband’s hair, trying his best to soothe him despite his own distress.

“I don’t wanna die!” Alec cried loudly. 

“Alexander, listen to me,” Magnus said, his voice a little shaky, moving so he was looking at Alec. Neither of them were quite strong enough to hold themselves up, so they sank to the floor and leaned against the couch, “neither of us is going to die, we’re going to do what they want and we’re going to get our children back,”

“But-but-but it’s the Seelie Court!” Alec yelled, barely able to get his words out as he took Magnus’ face in his hands and rubbed his tears away with his thumbs. Even in his own distress he was still able to care for his husband. He took a shaky breath in before he spoke softly again, “no one survives the Seelie Court,” 

“Well, I guess we’re just going to have to be the first ones,” Magnus replied just as softly, pulling their foreheads together. A sob wracked through Magnus’ body as more of him came in contact with Alec. Alec wrapped his arms tightly around Magnus and pulled his husband as close as he possibly could. Magnus wrapped his arms tightly around Alec, crawling into his husband’s lap, both of them crying together. 

“How do you know that?” Alec sniffled softly, running his fingers through Magnus’ hair while the other held him tightly, “how do you know we’ll be okay?”

“I just do,” Magnus said, pulling him close, “I had a feeling about you the first night we met and look how that turned out,”

“With our children kidnapped,” Alec scoffed, “if we never met, if we never adopted them then-”

“Alexander, STOP!” Magnus yelled, pushing himself away from Alec’s chest, angry that he would ever think something like that. When saw the hurt expression on his husband’s face he changed his tone, “take a deep breath, angel, please,” 

Alec did as he was told, bringing in as much air as he could through his nose before pushing it all out of his mouth. He met his husband’s gleaming eyes, as wet as his with tears. 

“No matter what happens, we can’t linger on ‘what if’s,” Magnus said, “they’re our kids and they were always meant to be ours. And we were meant to be married. We can’t change the past. We just need to take the future into our hands,” 

Alec took a breath in as if to speak, but only nodded. He had wanted to find a protest to his husband’s words, but he knew that Magnus was right. There was no way to change the past, and thinking about that would only make things worse. Magnus shifted them so he was holding Alec and he buried his head into Magnus’ neck, holding onto him with everything he had. 

“Lets pack a bag so we can go to the firehouse,” Magnus said softly, “we’ll both feel better when we have a plan,” 

Alec nodded again, letting his husband pull him to his feet. Magnus kissed him lightly, just enough to reassure him that he was there, knowing Alec didn’t always crave physical closeness when he was this upset. Granted, this was only the third time in their relationship he’d seen Alec this upset. Once when Alec had had a pretty vivid nightmare involving his mother on the anniversary of her death, and the other time on what would’ve been Max’s eighteenth birthday. Alec didn’t let himself go like this very often. 

Once they were in their bedroom, Alec pulled his shirt off, wanting to change the tear covered article before they left. His eyes caught the flock of birds tattooed over his heart. Since he got married and adopted his kids, he’d added three more birds, one to represent each of them. As the scars on his back had healed, he’d slowly begun covering them with a tattoo. 

The tattoo was purely Alec’s initiative as he had thought the scars were hideous, and he wanted to erase any evidence of the month and a half he spent with Asmodeus out of his life. Magnus insisted he didn’t need to cover the scars to be beautiful and spent hours upon hours worshipping his body trying to make him feel as such. As much as Alec had appreciated it, he still wanted to cover them, not wanting that reminder. He was initially going to recreate the ones that had been destroyed and then add more to cover the additional scars. It was Magnus who had suggested he design one large image that would turn his back into a work of art, reclaiming his pain and making it beautiful. 

That was why his back was now covered with two large angel wings. It had been Magnus’ idea, once he’d realized he wouldn’t be able to convince Alec he didn’t need a tattoo, and Alec had been all for it. The nickname ‘angel’ had quickly grown from there as the wings were slowly tattooed on his body, the intricate feathers tracing the lines of his scars and covering them magnificently. The feathers on the wings were tattooed in such a way that they looked as if they might be able to lift off his body at any moment. His scars disguised within, and if anyone ever saw it, they would see his strength.

Alec’s eyes now lingered on his body, thinking of what he went through. Besides the scars, there was no evidence that he had been tortured. He had covered the scars on his legs with a few of his favorite tattoos that were once on his back. The only ones still uncovered were the two that were on his face; one above his eyebrow and the other on his cheek. He let his hand run over that scar lightly, praying that his boys would not go through what he went through. 

“Are you okay, angel?” Magnus asked softly as he exited their closet with a duffle bag in hand to see Alec deep in thought. 

“I’m fine,” Alec said softly, moving his hand away from his face before going into the bathroom. He turned on the water and splashed a bit on his face, trying his best to clear his mind. He heard Magnus milling about in the other room, pulling clothes and other necessities out to put in the bag. When he reentered their bedroom, he walked over to his husband and grabbed his hand. Silently, he rolled up his sleeve, revealing the only tattoo he had: the LB, the initials of their joined last name, that he had tattooed on his wrist in the same style that the L was on Alec’s wrist. When Magnus got his LB tattooed on, Alec had added the B to his L, bringing his new family close to him. Alec brought Magnus’ wrist to his mouth and pressed a light kiss to it. 

“I’m sorry,” he said softly. 

“Alexander…” Magnus began, but silenced as Alec pressed another kiss to his wrist. His husband began slowly pressing kisses up his arm before he reached his neck, then his cheek, before pressing a firm but tender kiss to his lips. 

“I’m so sorry,” Alec said again, “I love you,”

“I love you too,” Magnus replied, meeting his eyes, “are you gonna be okay?”

“Are you?” Alec shot back. Magnus knew his husband was avoiding the question, it was his trademark response when he didn’t want to answer Magnus’ questions, he asked him the same question. There were times Magnus let him get away with it, but this was not one of those times. 

“I’m serious, Alexander,” Magnus said softly, running his hands up and down Alec’s arms. 

“I’ll be okay when we have our children back,” Alec said honestly. 

“I feel the same,” Magnus replied. Alec nodded, pulling his husband into a hug. They didn’t know how long they sat there holding each other, but they did it for as long as they needed to. 

***

“Alec, this is insane,” Jace said the second Alec and Magnus walked into the firehouse. He stood up from the couch, where Clary was currently sleeping with something mindless playing on the TV. Izzy sat on an armchair nearby, only looking up briefly from her laptop. 

“What they want us to steal?” Alec asked. 

“And where they want us to steal it from,” Jace replied.

“Well, I knew that,” Alec said. 

“No, from where in the Seelie Court,” Izzy stood from her chair with her laptop in her hands, “look at this,” 

She handed Alec the laptop and he and Magnus looked at the screen, seeing a building schematic on the screen. 

“That’s the Seelie Court,” Izzy told them. 

“Who the hell designed this?” Magnus asked. 

“Frank Lloyd Wright,” Izzy replied. 

“Who is…?” Alec trailed off. 

“He designed the Guggenheim,” Izzy informed them, “the top floors are designed pretty similarly,”

“Top floors?” Magnus asked. 

“There are six floors of office, board rooms, display rooms, etcetera,” Izzy said, “but if you go further down, there’s an entire underground structure. I can guarantee there’s more than we can see here and that’s where it’s gonna be. The deepest point in their labyrinth,” 

“Well, what are we going to steal?” Alec asked, “how hard is it going to be to find?” 

“We don’t know,” Izzy said, taking the laptop and closing it. 

“You don’t know?” Alec asked, “we’re breaking into the Seelie Court and you don’t KNOW where we have to go once we’re inside?!”

“We can find out,” Izzy said, “though it might be hard,”

“How hard?” Jace chimed into the conversation. 

“Well, the NYPD provides a lot of security,” Izzy said, “so the easiest way to figure out anything about that building is...to ask Simon,”

“Do we know any other cops?” Alec asked, looking around. No one answered. 

“We need him anyway,” Izzy sighed, hugging her laptop tightly to her chest, “this party we’re infiltrating, the entire NYPD is invited, so we need him,” 

“Do you think he’ll talk to you?” Jace asked. 

“Ha! No,” Izzy replied. 

“Alec and I will talk to him,” Magnus said, “if anything, he’ll do this for our kids. I trust in that,”

“Okay,” Izzy said, “he should be at...his apartment,” she paused, blinking away the tears that were forming in her eyes, “I haven’t been back since we broke up,” 

“Alright, we’ll head over there now,” Magnus said, taking Alec’s hand, “let’s go, darling,” 

***

“Can I ask you something, angel?” Magnus asked while they were on their way to Simon’s. Magnus was staring out the window, watching the buildings go by them but not registering anything he was seeing. He reached out and placed his hand over Alec’s which was resting on the gear shift between them. 

“Of course,” Alec replied, only taking his eyes off the road for a moment to look at his husband.

“What exactly does the Seelie Court do? Like, why are you all so scared?” he asked, “I mean, I’ve heard of them, obviously, but I thought they were just rich,” 

“Well, they were always a gang, kind of like the Circle. They’ve been around for as long as anyone can remember and they’ve always been ruthless. They’ve gone by a bunch of different names,” Alec began, “they’re founded on principles of honesty. That’s their reputation and how they’ve come to be so well respected both in and out of the criminal world. You always know you’re making an honest deal with a Seelie and the Seelies have a way of knowing if you’re lying,”

“How did they make their money?” 

“They deal in a lot of…” Alec hesitated, trying to find the right words, “different industries so they were already very well off and well established in a lot of circles but then they invested their money very well and they made some reputable money. Then the leaders all took the last name Seelie and passed themselves off as a rich family,” 

“So they’re just super rich?” Magnus asked. 

“And ruthless,” Alec added, “after they made their good money, they built up their current reputation, but their gang activity didn’t stop. That’s what I’m assuming they do underground in their facility,”

“Why are they so lethal?” Magnus knew it was a dumb question and one he might not want to know the answer to. He was just hoping that Alec would know what he was trying to say and tell him what he wanted to know.

“Anyone who directly opposed them, anyone within their organization that lied or spoke out against them, died and anyone who dared go up against them, to try to rob them, or even just break into their facilities died an absolutely gruesome death,” Alec told him. 

“Jesus,” Magnus breathed out, “and we’re expected to go in and steal from them?!”

“Yes,” Alec sighed, pulling the car up outside Simon’s apartment building, “if the Circle stole from the Seelies then-”

“They’d be known as the gang that stole from the Seelies,” Magnus finished, “so that’s what you meant when you said this was all about their reputation,”

“Yes,” Alec put the car in park, “there’s more going on within the Circle than we know. They never had an interest in messing with the Seelies before. Something’s changed,” 

“Something has to have changed,” Magnus said, getting out of the car, “if they left us alone for six years and then come for us now, something has to have changed,”

“Yeah,” Alec replied, joining him on the street, “they might’ve known your father was dead the whole time,” 

“What are we even going to say to him?” Magnus asked, changing the subject as he looked up Simon’s building

“I don’t know,” Alec said softly, taking his husband’s hand, “whatever we have to,”

Magnus nodded as they walked up to the building and pressed the buzzer next to Simon’s name. 

“Who is it?” Simon’s voice came through a little rough over the intercom. 

“Um, it’s Alec and Magnus,” Alec said. 

“Are you here for Izzy’s things?” Simon asked. Alec looked at Magnus who shrugged. If that was what was going to get them through the door, then that is what they’d say. 

“Yeah,” Alec replied. Simon said nothing, they just heard the door buzz beside them. Magnus pulled it open for his husband, who walked through. Alec held tightly to his hand as the two made their way up the elevator to Simon’s apartment. It was Magnus who knocked on his door. 

“Morning,” Simon greeted them, a cup of coffee steaming in his hand. He looked as if he hadn’t shaved or showered since they last saw him. There was a small bit of hope in Alec’s heart, maybe he regretted breaking up with Izzy. 

“Morning,” Magnus said, pulling Alec from his thoughts as he entered the apartment. 

“I haven’t gotten any of her things together yet,” Simon sighed, “I thought...nevermind,” he shook his head, shutting the door and taking a sip of his coffee. 

“That’s, um, actually not why we’re here,” Alec sighed. 

“Then why the hell are you here?” Simon looked at them, wide eyed. 

“Simon please, listen to us,” Magnus said, “we need to talk to you. We wouldn’t come here if it wasn’t important,” 

“I don’t want to talk to you!” Simon shot back, “you’re liars and thieves. Get out of my house,”

“Simon, please,” Alec begged, “it’s about our kids,”

“Are you going to kill me?” Simon deadpanned.

“No,” Alec replied sternly, “do you mind if we sit?” 

All Simon did was shrug and gesture to the couch where Alec and Magnus sat down. Alec studied the younger man, seeing his obvious emotional turmoil. He clearly didn’t know how to feel about the two of them, and Alec had a feeling he didn’t know how to feel about Izzy either. 

“We need your help,” Alec said plainly. 

Simon laughed and leaned against the well, “oh the great criminal masterminds need help from the lowly little cop. How cute,”

“Simon, this is important,” Alec urged. 

“Why would I help you?” Simon asked, setting his mug down on the coffee table. 

“Because…” Alec began, looking at Magnus. There were tears glistening in his eyes and his look was begging his husband to continue. 

“Because our children were kidnapped by the Circle,” Magnus continued softly, taking his husband’s hand, “and we need someone inside the NYPD to get them back,” 

“What?!” Simon asked, sitting in the armchair and putting his coffee down, “what?!”

“Don’t ask me to repeat it,” Magnus looked at him with pleading eyes. Alec squeezed his hand to ground him, “we need your help, please,” 

“What do you need from me?” Simon asked. 

“Izzy knows that best,” Alec sighed, “she’s the brains of our operation,”

“Of course she is,” Simon chuckled, a small smile painting his lips that he bowed his head to hide it. 

“Will you help us?” Alec asked, “for our kids, please,”

“I won’t kill anyone,” Simon stated firmly. 

“Ha, you can leave that to us,” Magnus said, his voice full of anger as he played with the wedding ring on Alec’s finger. 

“You’re not actually gonna kill anyone, are you?” Simon asked hesitantly. Alec and Magnus looked at each other, deciding whether or not to tell the truth.

“Don’t lie to me,” Simon said, “or I won’t help you,”

Alec sighed, “we’re going to kill the fuckers who did this. No one else is supposed to die,” 

Simon paused, looking between the two desperate fathers. He took a breath in, making his decision known before he could change his mind,“I think that’s fair,” he said, standing up, “when do we start?” 

***

Izzy looked up from her laptop at Jace who was sitting on the couch, his arm wrapped around Clary, “Jace, can you take a look at this?” 

“Sure,” Jace reached across and grabbed the laptop Izzy had held out to him. 

“Which one am I looking at?” Jace asked, settling the computer in his lap. 

Izzy sighed, looking between Jace and Clary, “let’s go to the kitchen,”

Jace nodded and stood, following his sister into the kitchen. Once they were in and the door was shut, she took the laptop and rested it on the table. She pointed to one of the tabs, “look at this one. They have their own private security too,” 

“And?” he asked. 

“So we need to get past private security too,” she said, “and there is a signal jammer inside this building. Useless you’re on their network, there is no signal getting in or out of there,”

“So no comms out of the building?” Jace asked. 

“None,” Izzy replied. 

“So we’re all going in then?” Jace asked. 

“You’re not going in,” Izzy said, shutting her computer and opening the fridge. 

“What do you mean I’m not going in?” Jace asked, following her to the fridge, “you think I’m not going in to help save my nephews?!”

“Jace, you’ve got a child on the way,” Izzy said, pointing to door Clary was on the other side of, “you can’t take that risk on your life,”

“So I’m supposed to just let you and Alec and Magnus go in and sit here while you all die?” Jace asked, shutting the fridge, “why would you ever think I would do that?”

“You can’t think about us, Jace!” Izzy yelled, “you have to think about Clary! You have to think about your child! You don’t want them to grow up fatherless!”

“Well I don’t want to live the rest of my life without my family!” Jace yelled back. 

“Jace, listen to me,” Izzy lowered her voice for a moment, “you know Magnus is going to insist that he come with us, and, well...those kids are going to need someone to come back to,” 

“No, Izzy, you listen to me,” Jace said, “we have a better chance of surviving this if we all go in. Then I can help protect you!”

“NO!” Izzy yelled, “Jace, I REFUSE to be the reason that your child-”

She stopped mid-sentence as she heard movement outside the kitchen. She opened the door and stopped in her tracks. Alec and Magnus had just walked through with Simon in tow. Izzy didn’t know whether to look at him or not, but she desperately wanted to. She wanted to look into his eyes and apologize as many times as she could until he agreed to at least hear her out. She looked up at him and he refused to meet her eye, instead going over to where Clary was now awake on the couch. 

“So he’s gonna help us?” Jace asked, coming over to Alec and Magnus.

“Yeah,” Alec replied, “though I would suggest we always have a mediator between him and Izzy because he’s still pretty mad,” 

“Probably a good idea,” Jace said. 

“Uh, Simon,” Izzy said hesitantly as she moved towards him, her arms crossed. 

“What,” he said flatly, not even looking at her. He just held tight to Clary’s hand, staring at the ground between them. 

“Thank you... for helping us,” she said, uncrossing her arms and shifting nervously, trying to get Simon to look at her. 

“I’m doing it for Rafe and Max,” Simon deadpanned. 

“Right,” Izzy nodded, recrossing her arms and letting her head a little, holding herself tight, “thank you,” 

Simon nodded, resisting the urge to look at her. Izzy nodded again and turned to see her brothers look away quickly as if they hadn’t been intensely focused on their interaction. She looked away from them and walked past them, going into her office and shutting the door. 

“Is there food in the kitchen?” Magnus asked. 

“No,” Jace replied, “Izzy was meant to go pick something up but we’ve been a little busy,”

“Right,” Magnus replied, “guess I might as well go pick some up so we can eat while we’re here,” 

“Okay,” Alec said softly, kissing Magnus’ cheek, “stay safe, Mags,”

“You too,” he replied, taking the keys from Alec and going out the door.

“I need to talk to you two,” Alec said to his siblings. Jace nodded and went towards Izzy’s office, where she had retreated to after talking to Simon. 

“What?” Izzy asked once they came in and shut the door. 

“I don’t want Magnus going on this job, at all,” Alec said. 

“I don’t want Simon going either,” Izzy replied. 

“Or Clary,” Jace added, “but I don’t think we’ll have as hard convincing her as we will convincing Magnus and Simon,”

“I’ve been thinking about that and I think I have a solution,” Alec said.

“I’m listening,” Izzy raised an eyebrow. 

“We all plan together as if Magnus and Simon were coming with us,” Alec said, “and three of us make a plan that involves just us,”

“So what do we do about Simon and Magnus? How do we keep them from coming?” Izzy asked. 

“Can you get your hands on some sleeping pills?” Alec asked softly. 

“You want to drug them?!” Jace asked. 

“Keep your voice down!” Alec hissed, slapping his brother’s shoulder, “if we’re going to die, my children need someone to come home to. The only way Magnus won’t come with us is if,” Alec took a deep breath in before speaking, his voice heavy, “is if he doesn’t have a choice,”

“Alec…” Izzy began. 

“Do you have another idea?” Alec asked, eyebrows raised. 

“No,” Izzy sighed, “how long do we want them asleep for?”

“Twelve hours,” Alec replied, “and get four doses, just in case,”

“Okay,” Izzy said, taking out her phone and sending some messages. 

“Jace,” Alec turned to his brother, “don’t tell Clary about this plan. I don’t want to run the risk of her to say something,”

“Okay,” Jace nodded. Alec looked down at his wedding ring, spinning it a few times absentmindedly around his finger. This was the right thing to do. He hated that he was leading his siblings into a death trap, but he hated the idea of leading his husband into one even more. He didn’t want to drug Magnus, his stomach churned even thinking about doing something like that to him, but his children were his top priority and in order for his children to be okay, they needed to be able to come back to Magnus, even if he was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this one was a bit of a filler and I'm sorry to leave you with just this, but alas, it is all necessary information to move forward with.  
> See y'all next Friday!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some conversation, a negotiation, and an altercation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't already, please sign every petition on this site that I've linked below. It literally takes two minutes, less than if you already have an account on these sites. If you're able to, donate. If you're able to go to protests, go, but please wear a mask and stay safe, read the protestor's guide. And if you don't support black lives matter, if you don't think that all black lives matter, stop reading my stories. 
> 
> <https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co> (I will put this link at the end as well in case you want to read and then sign)
> 
> Warning: this chapter contains a semi-graphic fight scene and some sensitive themes.

“Okay, so that’s it? That’s the plan?” Simon asked. The six of them were gathered around the dining room table in the firehouse where Alec had just run through the fake plan that involved all of them. It wasn’t all that different from the plan that involved just Alec, Jace, and Izzy, so it wasn’t difficult to come up with a fake plan. The plan that involved all of them was slightly more fool proof, with Simon and Magnus mainly keeping a lookout and distracting anyone they think might be onto them. That was unnecessary in both Alec and Izzy’s minds, the priority was keeping their partners safe.

“Yes,” Alec said, folding up the blueprints they’d printed of the Seelie Court with their notes scribbled across it, “overall it’s not a complicated plan. We just need a few more details to make it fool proof and that’s where you come in,” 

“We need you to get us as much information about what goes on in the Seelie Court as possible just so we know exactly what we’re getting into,” Jace continued, turning to look at Simon, “Izzy is going to get as much as she can hack from that private security company but we need whatever the NYPD has as well because right now we’re flying pretty blind,” 

“Easy enough,” Simon nodded, “what were you saying about me taking Izzy to the precinct?” 

“In order to get into the party we need invitations and badges,” Izzy said, “you need to find out who isn’t going to the party. Then you bring me in so I can steal their invitations and badges,” 

“How am I going to get you close enough to these people?” Simon asked. Izzy looked between Alec and Jace before Alec continued. 

“You need to take Izzy in as your fiance,” Alec pursed his lips, “take her around and introduce her,”

He saw the utterly uncomfortable look on Simon’s face, everyone did. Izzy tried to ignore it but she’d already seen it. When they were brainstorming she’d tried to think of any other way to steal badges, even try to fabricate them, but it was nearly impossible. Not even the people she usually had forge things for them wouldn’t forge police badges. 

“Unless you can think of a better way,” Alec said, noticing the look on Simon’s face too.

Simon sighed before looking down at the floor and shaking his head, “I’ve got nothing,” 

“If you see any invitations just lying around this week, pick them up,” Izzy said, “that way we have as many options as possible when it comes to taking badges,”

“Okay,” Simon nodded, “when do I take you in to steal the badges?”

“The day before,” Izzy replied, “we can’t risk anyone having enough time to figure out exactly what happened,” 

“How long until we do this?” he asked.

“Five days,” Alec said. He knew they were going to be the longest five days of his life. These past two without his kids had been longer than he could possibly imagine. His only comfort was that they had heard nothing, and they had to assume that meant nothing had changed. If Jonathan had harmed them, he surely would’ve said something. Alec had to believe that they wouldn’t intentionally hurt their children as long as they behaved. 

“Are we done here?” Magnus asked. He had been sitting silently by Alec as they had laid out the plan.

“Yeah,” Izzy nodded. Magnus stood and stalked out of the dining room without a word. Alec looked at his siblings before going to follow his husband. 

“Alec, wait,” Izzy said, “Jace and I need to talk to you,” 

Alec’s jaw set as he looked between his siblings and the door his husband went through. 

“Okay,” Alec nodded, following Jace and Izzy out of the dining room, leaving Simon and Clary in the dining room as they made their way into Izzy’s office. 

“What’s up?” Alec asked after he shut the office door. 

“Jace and I were talking last night,” Izzy began, “and we’re both really not comfortable with drugging Simon and Magnus,” 

“What?!” Alec looked between them, “you think they should come with us!?”

“No!” Jace exclaimed, “Simon is easy, we can just say that because he’s a cop he’s a liability. Anyone there could easily recognize and identify him, blowing all of our cover,” 

“What about Magnus?” Alec asked, “how do we get him not to come?” 

“You have to convince him,” Izzy said. 

“How?” Alec shook his head, trying to think of some way he could convince his husband to stay behind. 

“I don’t know,” Izzy shook her head, “but you have to, unless you want to drug him. And think about it, Alec. Think about what that would do to him, what it would do to your relationship,” 

Alec sighed. He knew that drugging his husband was wrong, he hated that he had even thought of it in the first place. He knew it would violate his trust and make him probably never want to speak to him ever again. Not to mention it could be triggering to him as well, considering what happened when he was drugged before. He had just thought of it at first because it was a simple answer: Magnus wouldn’t come if Magnus didn’t have a choice. Deep down though, he wouldn’t have been able to do it when the time came. He had to convince Magnus not to go of his own accord.

“I know,” Alec shook his head, “I’ll convince him,” 

“Good luck,” Jace said. Alec nodded and exited the office, going to find Magnus. Jace and Izzy went back into the dining room where Clary and Simon were quietly talking. 

“Simon,” Izzy said as she took a breath in, “can I talk to you for a moment?” 

The two had become slightly more amiable the past two days. She had given Simon her room and slept on the couch. They had been getting friendlier in group conversations. He wasn’t as cold as he had been a few days ago and that had given her hope. Perhaps it was false hope, but she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she didn’t try to fix this. 

“Sure,” Simon said after a moment. 

“Cool,” Izzy nodded, standing and exiting the dining room, leaving Jace and Clary alone. Simon followed behind her into her office. Izzy shut the door behind them. 

“Okay, can you just let me say what I need to say before you say anything?” Izzy asked. Simon nodded, leaning against the wall and hugging his body as he stared down at the ground. 

“I am so incredibly sorry for lying to you,” Izzy began, “I know that doesn’t make up for what I did. But I really didn’t expect our relationship to develop the way it did. I’ve told you in the beginning I’m not good at relationships so the fact that ours survived…”

She took a shaky breath in, knowing this was probably her last chance, “once things started getting serious I was so scared of ruining it that I kept putting off telling you. Then we got to this point and if I’m being honest we were in so deep I was never going to tell you. The only reason I did is because we saw this coming and I wanted you to know before you inadvertently got dragged into this,”

She looked up at Simon who still wasn’t looking at her. She clutched her fingers together, holding her hand in a tight fist as she waited for him to say something, anything. But he didn’t, so she continued.

“I don’t expect you to take me back,” Izzy sighed, trying to hold back her tears, “but I still do love you, Simon. All I’m asking is that you forgive me, please. I want to at least be friends after this is all over,” 

Izzy looked at Simon who was still staring at the ground. 

“I don’t think I could be friends with you if we weren’t together,” he said softly. 

“I understand,” Izzy replied, choking slightly as she held back a sob, not wanting to admit how much that hurt her. She didn’t know if she’d be able to handle losing Simon completely. 

“But I forgive you,” he continued. 

“Really?” Izzy looked up, a little hopeful. Maybe there was hope for something between them. 

“Yes,” he replied, “but things aren’t going to be the same between us,” 

“I know,” Izzy nodded. 

“But I’m willing to try again,” he said, looking up at her for the first time. 

“Really?” she couldn’t help the smile that began to form. 

“Are you hiding anything else from me?” Simon asked, his voice serious before teasing, “no secret island? No hidden sex dungeon?” 

“No,” Izzy laughed a little, “but seriously, I’m not hiding anything else,

She paused a moment before continuing, “obviously I haven’t told you the specifics about the Shadowhunters stuff but you can ask me anything you want to know. I’ll tell you the truth,” 

“How come Clary knew and I didn’t?” Simon asked. He wouldn’t admit it but that was what hurt him the most. 

“Jace and Clary met because Alec got shot when we were still working with The Circle,” Izzy explained, “we were out on a job one night and she showed up at the door of the firehouse because her and Jace were supposed to go out. That was right after Alec was kidnapped so he ended up having to explain everything to her. Then she was on the hit list that Magnus was given so even if we had tried to hide it at first we wouldn’t have afterwards,”

Simon only nodded. 

“And I’m not going to lie,” Izzy said, “I didn’t tell you early on because I didn’t quite trust you not to arrest us. That also came from pressure from Alec and Jace. As things started getting more serious I wanted to tell you but they wanted me to break up with you and I almost did,” 

“I remember that,” Simon huffed, crossing his arms tightly before staring at the ground again “vividly,” 

“Yeah,” Izzy laughed a little to diffuse the tension, “you’ve changed me for the better, Simon. Made me a better person, made me a happier person. Thank you for giving me a chance,” 

“Of course. I love you, Isabelle,” Simon said, uncrossing his arms and taking a few steps so he stood in front of her, “I don’t know what I’d do without you,” 

“I love you too,” Izzy said, smiling as she let her fingers tangle in his hair. He smiled before leaning down and kissing her softly. The kiss quickly turned hungry and she was soon fully in Simon’s arms as he lifted her off the ground and sat her on her desk. 

***

“Magnus,” Alec called, looking around the firehouse. The library and his bedroom were both empty and he didn’t find Magnus until he went into the garage. 

“Magnus!” Alec exclaimed as he approached his husband, whose back was to him, “what’s wrong, baby?”

Alec took him by the shoulder when he approached. Magnus didn’t move as he stood in Alec’s grip, so Alec moved so he was facing him. He let his hands rest on Magnus’ biceps as he looked down at him. There were tears in his eyes which Alec wasn’t expecting.

“Magnus...talk to me,” Alec pleaded. 

“Do you think we can do this?” Magnus’ voice broke as tears spilled from his eyes, “do you honestly think we can do this?” 

“We have to,” Alec insisted. 

“But can we?!” Magnus yelled, suddenly looking up at Alec with tears glistening in his widening eyes, “do you honestly think that we can?!” 

“What other choice do we have?!” Alec yelled back before taking a breath in, calming himself down, “look, babe, my siblings and I have done a lot of the impossible before. This is just gonna be the next thing we cross off the list,” 

“But are our children going to have someone to come home to?” Magnus asked softly, his voice broken. 

“If you stay behind,” Alec said, jumping at the opportunity to try and convince Magnus to stay on his own. Magnus had given him the perfect opportunity to start this conversation. 

“And let you go to your death alone?” Magnus scoffed, “not gonna happen,” 

“Magnus, we can’t both go to our deaths,” Alec told him, moving to take Magnus’ hands in his. 

“You seem to forget, Alexander, but I’ve saved your life more than once,” Magnus shot back, “if I go on this job then I will be there to save you again so we could both come home to our children...I’m not going to let that opportunity go,” 

“Please, Magnus,” Alec begged, “let me save your life for once, please. Our boys are going to need someone to come home to if I don’t make it,” 

“Fine” Magnus pursed his lips, “on one condition,”

“Which is?” Alec turned to him. 

“I want to try to pay them to give us the kids back,” Magnus said. Alec thought for a moment. That might work, as the Circle was hugely motivated by money, but this was about their reputation. And they might end up thinking they were going against them and would hurt their children as a result. 

“I don’t know,” Alec replied, “I don’t know if we should risk that,”

“What would we be risking?” Magnus asked, “we can certainly afford it and I don’t want to send you off to your death if we don’t try other ways of getting them back first,”

“No, I don’t want them to think we’re acting out. I don’t want to take the risk they’ll hurt them,” Alec said. 

“Why would they hurt them?” Magnus asked. 

“It was always a wildcard, what would upset them,” Alec sighed, “it wasn’t that big a deal when it was just us but-”

“What if I just talk to them?” Magnus asked, “tell them you insisted I don’t go, so it shows that you’re still doing what they asked, but I could just say that I had to try,” 

“That might work,” Alec nodded, “but I still don’t know,” 

“It still can’t hurt to try,” Magnus insisted, “please. Let me try,”

“Okay,” Alec said softly, taking Magnus into his arms, hugging him tight to his chest.

“I’ll go back to the house, talk to him through the bugs there,” Magnus said, “hopefully he’ll show up,” 

“Just don’t be standoffish and you’ll be fine,” Alec replied, “please be careful,” 

“I will,” Magnus said before kissing him. Magnus squeezed his hand before going and climbing into their car. Alec sighed as he watched it pull out of the garage before going back inside. 

“Hey,” Jace was sitting on the couch, “is everything okay?” 

“As okay as it can be,” Alec sighed, sitting next to his brother, “what’s up? I can tell something’s on your mind,” 

Jace chuckled, “do you mind if Clary and I go home for the night? She’s been super emotional and stressed and it just isn’t good for the baby and-”

“Jace,” Alec cut him off, “it’s fine. Go,” 

“You sure?” Jace asked. 

“Yes,” Alec assured him, “I’ll call you if we need anything,”

“Thank you. We’ll be back first thing in the morning,” Jace smiled, standing and heading back towards the kitchen. 

“Where’s Izzy?” Alec called. 

“In her office making out with Simon,” Jace replied. 

“Wait, really?” Alec turned to look towards her closed office door that Jace was standing next to. 

“Maybe a little more than making out now,” Jace remarked before moving back into the kitchen. Alec couldn’t help but smile. At least something good had happened to one of them. 

***

“Jonathan!” Magnus called the second he entered the apartment, “I need to talk to you!” 

Magnus slammed the door behind him before walking over to the balcony door, throwing it wide open. 

“Come on in, we need to have a chat,” Magnus continued. 

“Are you going to kill me?” Jonathan’s voice echoed throughout the apartment. 

“No,” Magnus replied, “I’ll lock my weapons in the bedroom. I just want to talk,”

“You want to negotiate something,” Jonathan said. 

“Yes,” Magnus confirmed. 

“But Alec doesn’t know,” Jonathan sounded too smug for Magnus’ liking. 

“Yes,” Magnus sighed, playing his part well, “he didn’t want me to,”

“Where does he think you are?” Jonathan asked, curiosity evident in his voice. 

“A friend’s house,” Magnus replied, not wanting to name any of his friends and inadvertently get them involved. 

“I’ll be there soon,” Jonathan said, “I see any weapons on you at all I will-”

“I know what you’ll do,” Magnus cut him off. He waited for Jonathan to say something else, but he did not. Magnus moved into their bedroom and put his gun as well as the knives he kept in his boots on the dresser. He opened the safe they kept in their closet and did a quick count of how much cash they had in there in case Jonathan wanted cash immediately. It was nothing compared to their vast fortune, but it might have to do. He locked it again as he heard footsteps in the main room. If Jonathan was here already, then their base had to be close by. He took a breath in as he stood before exiting the room. 

“You got here fast,” Magnus said as he entered the living room where Jonathan was making himself at home on their couch.

“A perk of being me,” Jonathan smiled, “now. What do you have to offer?” 

“Money,” Magnus said, “as much as you want if you just let our children go,” 

“Oooo. Here’s the problem with that, Bane,” Jonathan said, picking at his fingernails, “this isn’t about the money. It’s about reputation,”

“Why?” Magnus asked, deciding not to correct his name, “what is so important about this job that you’re willing to hurt children over it?!”

“My father is dead,” Jonathan replied.

“What?!” Magnus couldn’t help but hide his shock. They didn’t have anything to do with The Circle anymore but Izzy knew enough people he had a feeling they would’ve found out somehow that Valentine Morgenstern was dead, unless it wasn’t common knowledge, “WHAT?!”

“I need to do something to solidify my standing within the Circle,” Jonathan continued, ignoring his shock, “one of my father’s greatest failures was losing the Lightwoods. My original plan was just to infiltrate the Seelie Court myself but then I thought to myself, what if I get the Lightwoods back? I can show everyone that no one ever truly escapes the Circle. Why not get the Lightwoods back to infiltrate the Seelie Court? We’re building a new Circle. It’s a stroke of genius, if you ask me,”

“So you’re trying to become your father,” Magnus said. 

“Essentially, yes,” Jonathan replied. 

“And that’s why you’ve started messing with kids,” Magnus continued, “Alec told me you never messed with kids before,”

“Yes, my father was a bit of a pussy,” Jonathan remarked. 

“Take me instead,”

“Excuse me?”

“Let me kids go, take me. Alec will still do what you want,” Magnus insisted. 

“No,” Jonathan replied. 

“Why not?” Magnus asked, stone faced. 

“First off, the odds that you escape are significantly higher,” Jonathan said, “and second, while I know Alec loves you more than anything, the love of a parent is stronger,” 

“Please,” Magnus begged, “please! He’ll still do what you want, I swear,” 

“The thing with parents, Bane, is that they feel responsible for their children,” Jonathan continued, “Alec may love you, but he doesn’t feel responsible for your health and safety, not like he does your kids. You both feel responsible for the health and safety of your children, which is why you’re here right now,” 

“Please, Jonathan, I’m begging you, let them go,” Magnus said, his eyes shining with tears. 

“Nice try,” Jonathan said, standing, “not gonna happen. Nice talking to you,”

Jonathan turned and began walking towards the back door. Before Magnus could process what he was doing. He was tackling Jonathan to the floor. The two rolled around on the floor, trying to get the upper hand before Magnus felt a sharp pain across his wrist. He fell back a little and Jonathan kicked him the rest of the way off. Magnus looked down and saw blood covering his wrist. He quickly covered it with his other hand, putting as much pressure on as possible to stop the bleeding. 

“You’re going to regret that,” Jonathan said as he stood. 

“Please, don’t hurt my kids!” Magnus said quickly, getting off the ground so he was on his knees, “they’re Alec’s kids too. He didn’t do anything! He doesn’t deserve that!” 

“I won’t,” Jonathan replied, a small smile on his face as he made his way to the door. 

“You mean that?” Magnus asked, a little confused and hopeful. 

“Cross my heart,” Jonathan said, mocking a cross across his heart. 

“Then what are you going to do?” Magnus asked softly. 

“You’ll see,” Jonathan smiled and then he was gone. 

***

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Jace asked, turning to his wife as she laid beside him in bed. 

“I’m fine,” she replied, still staring at the ceiling. 

“That’s bullshit,” Jace said softly, scooting closer, “I know you, Clary. Talk to me,” 

“I don’t know, it’s just,” she sighed, “I can’t help imagining, if this is happening to Alec and Magnus’ kids...what’s going to happen to ours?” 

“Listen to me,” Jace said, taking Clary by the chin and turning her so she was looking on him, “after this, the Circle is never going to bother us again,”

“That’s what you said the last time,” Clary said, “after the whole thing with Magnus’ father,” 

“But I mean it this time,” Jace said, “look...we haven’t...we don’t have a full plan for this yet. But we’re going to kill Valentine and Jonathan after this,” 

“You mean that?” Clary asked. 

“Yes,” Jace said, “they’re never going to come for us again. I swear,”

“But what if after you guys kill them, there’s someone just as bad who-”

She was cut off by a crash somewhere else in the house. 

“What the hell was that?” Clary asked. 

“I don’t know,” Jace climbed out of bed. He grabbed a pair of sweatpants from the floor and pulled them on over his otherwise naked form.

“Where are you going?” Clary asked. 

“To find out what the noise was,” Jace replied. He went to his nightstand and pulled the gun from it before handing it to Clary, “stay here,”

“Be careful,” Clary said, taking the gun. 

“I will,” he pressed a light kiss to her lips before exiting the bedroom, closing the door softly behind him. He crept through their dark house, checking all the upstairs rooms before making his way down the stairs. He began making his way towards the kitchen, intending to get a knife when someone jumped on his back. 

Jace quickly spun and grabbed the guy’s arms, trying to throw him off. He saw someone else running at him from the hallway, so he turned and kicked out, effectively knocking him down. He managed to flip the guy over his shoulder and onto the ground just as another came in through the back door, running at him. He tried throwing a punch but Jace ducked, punching him in the stomach and he keeled over. The tall guy from the hallway stood and tackled him to the ground, while another big guy he hadn’t originally seen also piled on top of him, trying to pin him down. 

The short one who had been hanging on his back stood and was now making his way towards the stairs. Jace dragged himself far enough away from the two guys holding him that he could grab the man’s ankle and pull him towards the ground. He was outnumbered for sure by people he couldn’t quite see in the dark of the house. He didn’t know what the hell was going on but he knew one thing for sure: there was no way in hell he was letting them get upstairs. He got his knee under the tall guy on top of him and pushed him off before turning to the big one. He grabbed his head and began slamming it against the wall until he stopped moving. 

The tall guy had made it up two stairs before Jace jumped onto his back. They both fell back over the railing and onto the coffee table, smashing it under their combined weight. Jace reached out and grabbed the lamp on the nearby end table, smashing the blub against the tall guy’s head. He looked and saw the other two heading towards the stairs and he chucked the lamp towards them. It didn’t hit either of them, but it slowed them down enough to give him time to get up. 

The tall guy, who was still lying on the ground, tried to grab his ankles as he ran towards the stairs but Jace jumped out of his grip. He slammed his body into the shorter of the two guys trying to get up the stairs against the wall. As he began to fall, Jace grabbed his head and slammed it against the bannister before kicking him down a few steps until he fell into the living room. 

Jace looked up and saw the bigger guy had already made it up the stairs, while the tall guy from the floor in the living room was starting to stand and make his way towards the stairs. Making a quick decision, Jace flew up the stairs, grabbing the guy by the hair just before he could reach for their bedroom door. He quickly turned and kicked Jace square in the chest, sending him flying down the hallway. 

The tall guy had made his way up the stairs and instead of coming after Jace, joined his friend as they opened the bedroom door. Jace heard a gunshot but they both jumped out of the way. Jace saw the bullet hit the wall as the tall guy rolled into the bedroom. He heard another gunshot and again it sounded as if it hadn’t hit flesh. He stood and ran towards the bedroom, pushing the bigger guy into one of the empty rooms. The taller one was currently wrestling with Clary, trying to get the gun out of her hand. She kept firing, missing him every time as he pointed the gun towards the ceiling. 

Jace ran and slammed into the guy, throwing him and the gun across the room. The gun fell where Jace couldn’t see it, but he was currently on top of the taller guy. He grabbed him by the head and intended to smash it into the wall when he heard Clary scream behind him. She was currently trying to pull away from the bigger guy as he pulled her out of the room.

“CLARY!” Jace yelled, getting off the guy and running towards them. He grabbed onto the bigger guy’s arms, trying to pry his hands off Clary while trying to ensure that no harm came to her at all. He had pried one hand off once they were in the hallway, but the taller guy had gotten up and had come and hit the back of Jace’s knee. He fell to the ground, letting go of the big guy, who was able to reestablish his grip on Clary. Jace turned and got both feet under the taller guy and kicked him across the room. He stood as quickly as possible and went back to the big guy, who was currently trying to pull Clary down the stairs. 

“Let go of her!” Jace yelled, throwing his weight into the guy, trying to tackle him and knock him off balance enough to get him away from Clary. Jace did knock him off balance, but they were too close to the stairs. Jace tackled him, effectively pushing them both down the stairs, and with his ironclad grip on Clary’s wrist they took her down with them. 

The three tumbled down the long flight of stairs, rolling over each other and hitting the wall as they did. Jace did the best he could to protect his head, knowing that if he was knocked out that would be the end, they’d leave with his wife. When they finally made it to the bottom of what seemed like an endless staircase, Jace looked around. He saw the big guy next to him was unconscious and Clary’s eyes were slowly blinking open. 

He went to attend to her when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. 

The tall guy was running down the stairs, still somehow conscious. Jace stood up, ready to take him when he reached them. He jumped down two steps and tried to tackle Jace to the ground, but Jace redirected his momentum so they both went crashing to the living room floor with Jace on top. He grabbed the stranger’s head and slammed it against the hardwood floor until he stopped moving. Jace jumped to his feet, ready to fight the next guy who got up but none of them moved. Jace exhaled in relief. All four guys were lying either unconscious or dead, he really couldn’t tell or care, on the floor of their destroyed living room. 

“Jace,” Clary choked out from behind him. 

“Clary,” Jace turned around and ran back towards her. She had tears in her eyes and she had one hand on her stomach. 

“Jace, I’m…” she took a shaky breath in as she removed a bloody hand from in between her legs, “Jace, I’m bleeding,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, go sign these petitions! Donate! Do everything you can to support this movement, these protests are WORKING, the online outrage and awareness is WORKING, we can't stop now.  
> <https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co>


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Preparations and Goodbyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last of the "light" chapters, hope you enjoy it!
> 
> Warning: Miscarriage

“Hey, have any of you guys heard from Jace or Clary?” Simon asked when he entered the kitchen the next morning. Izzy was close on his heels. Alec and Magnus were already sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast, quiet and wrapped up in each other. Magnus was leaning against Alec and Alec had his hand lightly resting on top of the bandage on Magnus’ wrist. He’d worn one of Alec’s sweaters to try and hide the injury from the rest of them. 

“I haven’t,” Alec replied, exhaustion still evident in his voice. They’d been the only ones who stayed at the firehouse the night before and Magnus had come in late last night, barely able to hold it together. It had taken him nearly an hour to tell Alec what had happened, and to explain that he had gone to Catarina’s afterwards so she could stitch up his wrist. He had spilled the entire situation to her, but neither of them cared. Cat had seen them both at their worst. She had offered to help but Magnus had told her not to come anywhere near the situation, not wanting to put her or Madzie in danger. 

Now they exchanged a nervous look, wondering if his conversation with Jonathan the night before had something to do with Jace and Clary’s absence. 

“They said they’d be back in the morning, right?” Izzy asked, grabbing a cereal from the cabinet and eating straight from the box. 

“Yeah…” Alec trailed off, looking at Magnus once again.

“Should we go over there?” Magnus asked. 

“How are we even going to get in?” Izzy asked, “they can’t tell the front gate we’re coming,”

“Shit,” Alec drummed his fingers on the table. 

“Seriously?” Simon said, looking a little dumbfounded, “I’m in a room full of criminals who are about to break into the Seelie Court and you can’t figure out how to break into one measily gated community?” 

“I’m sure we could figure something out,” Izzy said as she chewed, her mind racing. 

“We could hop the fence,” Alec suggested. 

“Cameras,” Izzy replied, “plus it’s broad daylight,” 

“Can’t we just walk down the sidewalk?” Magnus asked, “are they gonna stop us if we just walk in?”

Alec and Izzy looked at Magnus then at each other. 

“I don’t see why they would,” Izzy replied, “it’s a huge community, I doubt the people at the front gate know everyone,”

“Awesome. Eat something then we’ll head over,” Alec said. Simon and Izzy nodded before Alec left the kitchen to get dressed.

***

“How far are we?” Simon asked as they walked along the path. 

“Shut up,” Izzy said quickly. She turned down another sidewalk and they all followed. 

“What?” Simona asked. 

“You don’t talk about the crime before you do the crime,” Izzy whispered waving kindly to the security guard as they walked in. Simon, Alec, and Magnus gave him a nod and he smiled as they walked past. 

“Is this really crime?” Simon asked as they moved through the neighborhood. 

“You’re a cop,” Izzy shot back, “you tell me,” 

“I didn’t see a no trespassing sign,” Simon replied, “so it probably isn’t,”

When they arrived at the house, they found all the curtains closed, the porch light off, and the driveway empty. 

“Do they keep their car in the garage?” Simon asked, looking at the empty driveway.

“I don’t think so,” Alec replied. As they came up to the porch, Izzy rang the doorbell. They stood around, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible as Izzy rang the doorbell again. Then she tried the knob, which shook when she tried to turn it but didn’t budge. 

“Alec,” Izzy said, stepping back and blocking the view of the door from the street. Alec quickly knelt in front of the door and pulled out a lock pick, making quick work of the lock. 

“Now this,” Simon said, “this is a crime,” 

Alec ignored him as he stood and opened the door, looking around before they all quickly walked inside. Izzy reached over and flipped on the light and they all gasped when they saw the scene in front of them. 

“What happened here?” Simon asked. 

“I don’t know,” Alec replied. Magnus took his hand as they slowly started looking around the destroyed living room. The coffee table was broken and the couch was overturned. There was a smashed lightbulb on the ground and the lamp it came from was across the room. As they inspected more, they found blood on various spots in the carpet, and a few head sized indents in the wall. 

“Darling, do you think…” Magnus began. 

“No, we’d know if they took them,” Alec assured him. They had elected not to tell anyone else about what had happened between Magnus and Jonathan the night before, but it was looking like they were going to have to. Odds were, what happened here was their fault. 

“Then what the hell happened?” Magnus asked. Before they could say anything else, they heard the door opening. Everyone turned and had guns trained on the door only to see Jace and Clary in the doorway. Both were in their pajamas, their faces tired and tear stained. Everyone’s eyes were first drawn to Jace, who just looked so unlike himself like this.

And then Clary. 

Who was visibly not pregnant. 

“Clary…” Simon's voice trailed off, taking a step towards his best friend but stopping, not knowing quite what to do. 

“Oh god,” Magnus’ hand went to his mouth as his lip began to quiver and he fell against Alec’s chest, nearly fainting. Alec was currently the only thing holding him up because he knew this is what Jonathan was talking about the night before. He knew that this was his fault. 

“What are you doing here?” Jace managed to get out. His voice was raw and tired. 

“We hadn’t...we didn’t hear from you,” Alec said slowly, “it’s nearly noon we wanted to make sure...nothing...happened…” 

Clary shrieked at his words, turning and burying herself in Jace’s chest. He wrapped his arm around her as tears began spilling from his own eyes. 

“Please leave,” Jace pleaded. They all nodded and made their way towards the door. As Alec walked past he put his hand on his brother’s shoulder to assure him he was there for him. Jace nodded, acknowledging the silent promise. Alec then wrapped his arm around Magnus’ waist and helped him out the door. 

***

Magnus had barely made it back to the car. If it weren’t for Alec holding him up and guiding him he certainly wouldn’t have made it. Alec had told Izzy to take them back to their apartment. She had been eyeing them suspiciously the entire time, but still took them back. Alec had essentially carried his husband into their apartment and the two had collapsed on the couch and Magnus had let out a wail. 

“It’s my fault!” he yelled as he cried into Alec’s chest. Alec held him tightly, silent tears falling from his own eyes as his husband cried. 

“Yes, it is your fault,” Jonathan’s voice filled their apartment. 

“Jonathan, I swear to god, get the FUCK out of here,” Alec said through gritted teeth. 

“Or what?” Jonathan asked before he laughed, “you know, it wasn’t our intention for her to lose the child,”

“Then what was?” Alec narrowed his eyes. 

“We were going to take her too. We figured a pregnant woman wouldn’t put up much of a fight,” Jonathan replied, “but it seems I forgot how formidable an opponent Jace is,” 

“She lost her child,” Magnus said, his voice full of anger, “you’re disgusting,” 

“Well, you were the one who begged me not to hurt your children, which we did not,” Jonathan replied, “so be grateful for that,”

And with that, Jonathan was gone. Magnus fell back into Alec’s side, a fresh round of tears falling from his face.

“I have to tell them,” Magnus said softly, getting up from the couch, “I have to tell them,”

“Wait,” Alec said, grabbing Magnus and pulling him back to the couch, “not now,”

“Alexander, darling, I have to,” Magnus pleaded with wet eyes, “I won’t be able to sleep at night if I keep this from them,” 

“No, you can’t. Not yet,” Alec replied, holding his hands tightly, “Jace is going to be mad. I know he will be. He will be furious. If we want to get our kids back, we can’t have Jace mad at us right now. We need him,”

“Right. Yeah,” Magnus nodded, biting his lip. 

“Afterward this is all over we can tell them,” Alec said. 

“Do you think he’ll ever speak to us again?” Magnus asked, curling into Alec’s chest, “do you think either of them will?” 

“I hope in time,” Alec replied, “he’s my brother and he loves our kids. I think he’ll understand why we did what we did and that we couldn’t possibly know that would be the outcome. But they will be mad,”

“I won’t blame them,” Magnus sighed, “I deserve it,”

“Magnus, stop it,” Alec said, taking Magnus’ chin in his hand and lifting it so he was looking Magnus in the eye, “this is a stressful time for all of us, okay? You don’t deserve any of this that’s happening or what will happen. We made a mistake and it had a terrible consequence, but we can’t dwell on that right now, okay?” 

“Right. You’re right, angel,” Magnus nodded, leaning back into Alec’s side and resting his head on his shoulder, “I love you,”

“I love you too,” Alec replied, placing a kiss on the top of his husband’s head. 

***

Alec, Magnus, Izzy, and Simon all went silent instantly when Clary and Jace entered the firehouse the next day. They held tight to each other’s hands and Clary still had a hand over her stomach. They both looked exhausted but more determined than ever. 

“I want in,” Clary said once they reached the group. 

“What?” Izzy looked at her, jaw dropped.

“I want in,” she repeated, “I’m going on this job. We’re going to succeed and then we’re going to kill them all,”

“Clary, I don’t know if that’s such a great idea,” Simon said. 

“Shut up, Simon!” she snapped, “rearrange your plans, have someone else stay home, I don’t care. But I’m going whether you like it or not,” 

“Clary,” Izzy said tentatively, “Magnus and Simon aren’t going...and you shouldn’t either,”

“What?” Clary looked between Magnus and Simon, hurt and confused. 

“Simon’s not going because someone’s bound to recognize him,” Alec explained, “and Magnus isn’t going so our kids have someone to come home to,” 

“So just the three of you are going in?” Clary asked. 

“Yes,” Jace confirmed, “we were going to explain our new plan this morning, sorry, babe,” 

“Okay,” Clary nodded, tears welling in her eyes, “sorry I came in here in such a frenzy,” 

“It’s okay,” Alec said softly, pulling her into a hug. She wrapped her arms around him and rested her head against his chest. She let out a sob as she held him and Alec held her. 

“I’m sorry, Clary,” Alec said softly as he held her. 

“Would you like some breakfast?” Magnus asked softly. 

“Please,” Clary nodded and she followed Alec and Magnus into the kitchen. 

They ate a relatively silent breakfast before Clary took Simon into another room to talk, as she wanted to talk to someone else about the situation. Magnus remained with Alec and his siblings when they began talking about their new plan. 

“Are you guys all set?” Magnus asked. Even though he was no longer going, he wanted to make sure Alec would be as safe as possible when he went into it. 

“Yeah,” Izzy nodded, “I was finally able to find out where Meliorn’s office is,” 

“Are you ready to see him again?” Jace asked. 

“I’m never going to be ready to see him again,” Izzy chuckled. Meliorn, her most destructive ex, was second in command of the Seelie operation, Queen’s right hand. He was still single and she knew he was their best bet to make this job a success. They’d gone back to each other multiple times after their breakup, before Izzy and Simon had met, and she only hoped she’d be able to fool him enough into helping them. They needed to get into one of the high ranking Seelie offices and Meliorn was their best shot at getting in.

“How are you?” Alec asked Jace, changing the subject away from Meliorn.

Jace laughed a little, “how do you think I am, Alec? My wife just had a fucking miscarriage and it’s my fault!” 

“It’s not your fault, Jace,” Magnus insisted. 

“Yes it is!” he yelled before taking a breath in before hugging himself, “I couldn’t protect her,”

“You couldn’t have known that was going to happen,” Izzy said, “it’s not your fault,”

“We talked about running,” Jace replied, “well, we talked about her running. About her going to stay with Aline and Helen or any other of her friends. She was going to. But then she asked me if I needed her here through all this. I figured it was going to be my last few days to live, so I selfishly said yes. I promised I would protect her and now-”

Jace choked a little and held back the sob that threatened to escape his throat. 

“This is my fault,” he said, his voice shaking as his eyes filled with tears, “and no one can convince me otherwise,” 

Alec said nothing, just grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him in for a hug. Jace clung to him tightly as he cried. Izzy came in and wrapped her arms around both her brothers, and that’s how they stayed. 

***

“I got you something,” Simon’s voice came from behind Izzy, causing her to jump and spin quickly, grabbing a pen from her desk and pushing it against his neck. 

“Don’t scare me like that,” she said as she removed the pen from his neck, tossing it down on her desk. She had been looking through the information Simon had gotten her from the police station, including the list of names that she needed to steal badges from. 

“Sorry,” he smiled, “I know this isn’t an ideal time for either of us to do this. At least for me, I think I need a little more time before we start talking seriously about this…”

“About what...?” Izzy eyed him suspiciously. They were about to leave to go down to the station. She didn’t think it was the time for sentimentality. 

“I got you a ring,” Simon said, pulling it from his pocket, “it’s actually the same ring I got you the first time before I...crushed it. I don’t think I’m ready for a full proposal or a conversation about a wedding or anything but...before we go in...I wanted to get you the actual ring,” 

“Thank you, Simon,” Izzy smiled, taking the ring and putting it on her finger, “and I understand. We can have a conversation about getting married whenever you’re ready, if that’s something you still want,”

“It is! It’s definitely something I still want,” Simon said quickly, “just…well, I just need some time,”

“I completely understand,” Izzy said with a soft smile before pressing a quick kiss to his lips, “are you still okay with doing this?”

“What choice do I have?” Simon asked. 

“We can figure out something else,” Izzy insisted. 

“Izzy, I’m fine with it,” Simon replied, “the job is tomorrow. If we don’t do this, we can’t save Max and Rafe,” 

“You sure?” she asked.

“Positive,” he replied, kissing her again, “let’s do this,”

“Let’s go,” Izzy smiled, taking the hand he offered her as they went to leave the firehouse. 

***

Alec waited until Magnus breathing evened out and he was positive he was asleep before climbing out of bed. They were sleeping at the firehouse that night as they didn’t like the idea that Jonathan was watching them in their own apartment. He grabbed sweatpants and a hoodie and pulled them on before leaving the room as quietly as possible and made his way down towards Izzy’s office. 

As the days had gone on with their planning, Jace and Izzy became more and more confident that they were all going to make it out alive. They fine tuned the plan and were convinced they could make it out without the Seelies even knowing they’d broken in in the first place. 

Alec wasn’t convinced. 

He had a feeling deep in his gut that they weren’t making it out of this. He only had to hope that even if they failed, Jonathan would still let his children go. If the Shadowhunters were dead, there couldn’t be anything they’d want from Magnus besides money, which he knew Magnus would readily give. He didn’t want to think about the possibility of him being gone. He didn’t want to leave his husband alone in bed in what would probably be their last night together, but he needed to do this. 

They had all planned that after they finished the last of their preparations tomorrow they’d all go back to their own homes. Their plan was to spend their final few hours before the worst job of their lives in their own homes. Alec went into Izzy’s office and grabbed a pen and paper, intending to write a letter explaining himself. 

He sat down at her desk and began writing by the light that her desktop provided. 

_My Dearest Magnus,_

_I firstly have to say I’m so sorry. I am so sorry I had to leave you behind, but our boys needed someone to come home to, you know this as well as I. As the days have gone by, they’ve become more convinced that we’re going to make it. I’ve become less convinced._

_I love you. God, Magnus, I love you more than words can even describe. I can’t even imagine what my life would be like right now if I haven’t met you. We built a wonderful life, a wonderful family. I can’t even begin to fathom being without it, being without you. I am so sorry I got us into this situation. We should’ve taken care of Jonathan when we had the chance. We thought about it, but we were just so relieved to be free that we didn’t want to take the chance at messing it up, even if it gave us more security in the future._

_To Max and Rafe. Daddy loves you. I love you more than anything. I am so sorry I got you into this situation. Please take care of yourselves, take care of Papa, and know that I will be watching you wherever you go and I am already so proud of you. I didn’t want to leave, I wish I could watch you grow up, but I needed to keep you safe. We will see each other again, I promise._

_Magnus, please move on. You deserve all the love the world has to offer. Please, move on after I’m gone. Open up your heart again because you deserve it. If someone comes along who wants to sweep you off your feet, let them. Don’t let my spirit drag you down. But if no one comes along, and it’s just you and the boys, know I will be waiting for you wherever we end up._

_Please stay safe, live your life, and be happy after I’m gone. Please, do it for me._

_I love you forever,  
Alexander_

Alec wiped the tears that had formed in his eyes as he had written. He couldn’t even begin to fathom a world where he left Magnus and his boys behind, but in less than forty-eight hours he had no doubts that would be a reality. He wiped his eyes and folded up the letter, tucking it into the pocket of his hoodie. He knew he planned to wear it home tomorrow, so it would travel with him. 

He left the office, planning to go back to bed, but the second he thought about going back to Magnus the tears began flowing. Alec knew he probably wouldn’t be able to get back into bed like this without waking Magnus. And if he woke up and saw Alec crying, that would prompt a discussion he didn’t want to have. He turned towards the front door and walked out, appreciating the rush of cold air that hit his face. He sat on the front porch, just listening to the sound of the city as his tears flowed freely. Every few moments his body shook with a sob, but he was able to keep himself from wailing. 

“Alexander?”

Alec turned and immediately choked up when he saw Magnus standing half asleep in the doorway. 

“What are you doing out here, angel?” Magnus asked, then he noticed his tears, “what’s wrong, darling?” 

Alec couldn’t speak. He only turned away from his husband, his lip quivering as more tears fell from his eyes. He heard the door shut and Magnus sat down next to him and wrapped an arm around him. 

“Magnus, you should go inside,” Alec mumbled, his breathing still ragged. 

“I’m not going anywhere without you,” Magnus replied, rubbing his back. 

“You aren’t wearing a shirt,” Alec said, leaning against Magnus’ rapidly freezing chest. 

“Then come back inside with me,” Magnus replied, “please, I want to be with you,”

Alec nearly let out a sob at those words, knowing this would probably be the last night he had with his husband. He pulled away, putting his head in his hands and wiping his eyes as he continued to cry. 

“I know this is hard for you,” Magnus’ voice was steady, “but please, just come inside. Let me hold you,”

Alec let out a sob at those words. 

“Do...do you want me to leave you alone?” Magnus asked, starting to think that he might be part of the problem. 

“NO!” Alec said quickly, grabbing whatever part of Magnus he could reach before he looked him in the eye, “don’t leave me, please. I don’t...I don’t want to leave you,”

“Never, darling, I’m forever yours,” Magnus said, using a thumb to wipe away Alec’s tears. Alec only shut his eyes as more tears flowed. 

“God, I love you,” Alec mumbled, kissing his husband so hard it hurt before letting his head fall to Magnus’ shoulder. 

“Come inside,” Magnus begged, “Alexander, please,”

Alec only nodded against his chest. Magnus helped him to his feet and led him back inside and to bed, not even noticing the piece of paper bulging in the pocket of his hoodie. 

***

“Alright, let’s lay it all out once more,” Izzy said. All six of them were gathered around the dining room table. There were plans and supplies laid out all over the place but Izzy made sense of them all. 

“We got three invitations and three badges,” Simon said, pointing to the badges that corresponded with the invitations they sat on top of, “including mine,” 

“That gets us in,” Izzy said, “Simon’s been particularly nosy this week and knows for a fact that these people will not be attending the party so the only thing they’ll be missing is their badge,” 

“Which, we tried to take from people who often lose their badges,” Simon explained, “so they won’t be replaced as quickly because they get pretty fed up with those people pretty quickly. Should work with most, if not all of them,” 

“Right, and Jace, you’ve got the jewels?” Izzy asked. 

“The last round of glue is drying in my workroom,” Jace said. 

“I had the tailor sew extra large pockets into the insides of our clothes so we should have no problems getting them all in,” Izzy said, “along with what I need to get into Meliorn’s computer,” 

“And there is no metal on the jewelry that will set off any metal detectors they have,” Jace said. 

“And I have bags to put everything in that will ensure they are not detected by metal detectors, wands, or x-ray machines,” Izzy said. 

“And when Magnus and I went in to survey the place earlier this week, there were only metal detectors and x-ray machines,” Alec explained, “but we won’t be going in with any bags. Anything we need will be on our person and the bags Izzy got will safeguard against any other security we might be subjected to,” 

“And I will distribute these things when we come back tonight,” Izzy said. 

“And after we get a location from Jonathan on where to drop the jewels,” Alec began, “I’ll send it to Magnus, just in case we don’t survive the drop,” 

Everyone tensed at those words, not really wanting to acknowledge that they were probably going to die. 

“And I’m going to pick up clothes from the tailor when we leave here,” Izzy said quickly, before anyone could dwell on it, “we meet back here at seven sharp. Party starts at eight. Eat dinner, try to relax,” 

“Everyone okay?” Alec asked, looking around the room. He was met with only stoic and determined faces. 

“Alright then,” he interlaced his fingers with Magnus’, “we’ll see you all back here tonight,”

***

Alec was having a hard time holding himself together as he made them dinner. His hands shook as he tried to plate their food. They had gotten back from the firehouse an hour ago, where Alec had spent most of the day just looking at Magnus, trying to memorize the details of his face. They’d been together six year, but he still felt like he was going to forget in the end. He knew when he died, the last thing he wanted to see was Magnus’ face, and that was his plan. 

Magnus was sitting at the dining table, dealing with an issue that had popped up at his dance studio this past week, trying to distract himself. He had left fast, leaving it in the hands of Maggie, the college freshmen who was essentially his second in command, but there were still issues that needed his attention. Alec came and put the food on the table before returning to the kitchen, his hands shaking as he did.   
“Alexander, are you alright?” Magnus asked, putting his phone down and placing his hand over Alec’s. 

“No,” Alec said honestly. He wasn’t going to lie to his husband, not when this could be their last few moments together, “I’m not okay?”

“Are you worried about the job?” Magnus asked. He was almost as worried as Alec was, but he tried to remain confident that his husband would make it out alive. 

“I’m worried about not coming back from the job,” Alec said softly, not looking at Magnus. Magnus only nodded, holding Alec’s hand as they ate in silence. 

“I should go,” Alec said softly. Magnus nodded, standing when Alec did. Magnus wordlessly pulled him, holding him close and tight to his chest. Alec began to cry and as soon as Magnus felt Alec shaking in his arms, his tears began to fall as well. 

“I love you,” Alec choked out, holding Magnus even closer. 

“I love you too,” Magnus replied, pressing a kiss to Alec’s lips, “but you’re going to make it back. You’ll make it back with the boys. I know it,” 

“If I don’t-”

“Alexander-”

“If I don’t,” Alec repeated firmly, “there’s something in my nightstand drawer for you,” 

“What is it?” Magnus asked. 

“Please don’t look at it unless I don’t make it back,” Alec said, kissing Magnus again, wiping his tears away with his thumbs. 

“You’ll make it back,” Magnus assured him. 

“I hope so,” Alec sighed, pulling Magnus against his chest again. 

“You will,” Magnus insisted.

“I love you,” Alec said softly, “we’ll meet again, I promise,” 

“I love you too,” Magnus replied, “and I know we will,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah! Emotions, am I right? ngl I did get a little teary-eyed writing this chapter. Get ready for some ACTION next time around, see you next Friday!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Job

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is probably my favorite chapter that I've ever written for anything ever. I don't want to hype it up but I'm super proud of this one and I really hope you guys enjoy it.   
> Warning: some blood and violence in this chapter but nothing too bad

“You’re late,” Izzy said the second Alec walked into the firehouse as she walked past him towards the kitchen. 

“By five minutes,” Alec rolled his eyes, trying to keep his voice steady. He couldn’t think about Magnus anymore, he couldn’t think about his kids anymore, he needed to block them out. He had a job to do and he couldn’t afford any distractions. 

“You seem distracted,” Jace commented.

“Yeah, cause I just learned something interesting from Jonathan,” Alec replied. 

“What?” Izzy came running out of the kitchen. 

“Valentine’s dead,” Alec told them, 

“WHAT?!” Jace and Izzy’s jaws both hit the ground. 

“Jonathan’s doing this to cement his place in the Circle,” Alec continued

“How’d you find that out?” Izzy asked. 

“He just started talking before I left,” Alec lied. 

“Why would he do that?” Izzy asked. 

“I don’t know,” Alec shrugged.

“He just started talking?” Izzy eyed him suspiciously.

“Give him a break,” Jace stopped her. Izzy scoffed before heading back to the kitchen. Jace then turned to Alec, “are you okay?” 

“I’m fine,” Alec replied, “why wouldn’t I be?” 

“Well, I saw you leave last night and Magnus said he’d go out after you but-”

“I’m fine, Jace,” Alec said firmly, “just leave it, please,”

“Okay,” Jace nodded, taking a few steps back. 

“Where’s my tux?” Alec asked, looking around the main room for a rack of clothing. 

“My office,” Izzy replied, exiting the kitchen with a pile of supplies in her hand. She hadn’t changed yet but her hair and makeup were done. Alec nodded and went into the office, grabbed his tux, and went to his room to change. When he returned to the main room, Jace had gotten the fake jewels and Izzy was gone. 

“Is she changing?” Alec asked as he made his way down the stairs. 

“Yeah. Then we’re gonna load up our pockets and go,” Jace replied, “you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m, uh…” Alec hesitated as he approached his brother, “saying goodbye to Magnus was...hard,” 

“Why’d you say goodbye?” Jace asked, “you’ll see him again tomorrow,”

“Will I?” Alec asked, “do you honestly think we’ll make it out of this?”

“Yes,” Jace insisted, “this plan is foolproof. The Seelies won’t even know we were there,”

Alec went to protest, but Izzy exited her room. She was wearing a black, glitter covered jumpsuit, which was certainly uncharacteristic of her. She had done jobs in evening gowns and stilettos before, but now she only wore a short heel. 

“What’s with the jumpsuit?” Jace asked. 

“Two reasons,” Izzy said she made her way down the stairs, “one, gives me more pockets. Two, I’m not taking any risks. If there’s a possibility we need to run or hide, I’m not going to be able to do that as well in a dress and stilettos,” 

“Fair enough,” Jace nodded as she joined them. 

“We don’t want any of our pockets bulging when we go in,” Izzy said. 

“Right,” Alec nodded, “let’s load up,” 

Jace and Izzy distributed the tools and jewels between them. They placed them in the bags that would make them undetectable by wands before placing them into their hidden pockets. They smoothed them out then walked around a little before finding the best places to pin them so they would look natural under their clothes. Once they were set, unless anyone was looking for it, no one would see they were any hidden pockets in their clothing. 

“You’re sure the badge is the only ID we’re going to need?” Alec asked as Izzy handed them out, giving Simon’s to Alec. 

“Positive,” Izzy replied, “Simon said it himself and he’s been to one of these parties before,”

“He has?!” Jace asked, “and he didn’t tell us?!”

“He told me,” Izzy shot back, “but it was years ago, before we met, so I mainly used his knowledge to verify what I found out myself. I didn’t want to rely on him,” 

“I see,” Jace nodded. 

“Guys,” Alec said, “we need to go,” 

“Right,” Izzy said, putting their comms into her clutch before they all made their way to the garage. 

“You talked to Jonathan, right Jace?” Alec asked. Throughout the entire job, it had only been Jace communicating with Jonathan, save for Magnus’ conversation and the few small conversations they’d had in their apartment. They had all agreed early on it was for the best and that was the case. 

“I did,” Jace said, “he said that they’d have people watching us at the party and once we made it out he’d let us know where to go,”

“Of course,” Alec sighed. He wanted to send Magnus a location as soon as possible, just in case they didn’t make it out of the Seelie Court, but Jonathan wouldn’t be that stupid. He’d want to see them leave the Seelie Court or he’d assume they’d just come to him empty handed. 

“How the hell did Jonathan’s people get invited to this party?” Izzy asked. 

“I don’t know, maybe they're cops?” Jae shrugged, “the Circle has people everywhere. Maybe they’ve even got agents within the Seelies,”

“Maybe,” Izzy thought as they climbed in the car in silence and made their way across the city. 

“If I don’t make it out of this,” Alec said as they arrived, “one of you needs to send the location you get to Magnus,”

“Okay,” Jace nodded.

“But we do have weapons in the back in case Jonathan tries to jump us at the drop,” Izzy said, pulling into a parking spot at a halfway point between the exit of the Seelie Court and exit of the parking lot. They had made their planning assuming they’d be running out of there and would need an easy exit. 

“Never thought we’d do this again,” Alec mumbled before he extended his hand to his siblings to shake. He shook Izzy’s, then Jace’s, then they shook each other’s. 

“Let’s rob the Seelie Court,” Jace said as if he too couldn’t believe they were doing this again. They all nodded and exited the car. All three of them had a key to get back in in case one of them didn’t make it. They made their way towards the front doors, heads held high, pretending they were supposed to be there. Alec’s heart was pumping fast, but he was in his zone. This is where he functioned best: in the heat of the moment, adrenaline running through his veins. 

They made in through security with no problems. They weren’t stopped even though they were sent through a metal detector and wanded. Alec had tensed when he saw the wand before taking a breath and keeping his cool, only praying the bags would do what they were supposed to. 

They did, as they made it through security without issue. They split up to three different people checking people’s invitations. 

“Good evening, sir,” the woman smiled at him as he stepped up. 

“Good evening,” Alec smiled, handing her his invitation. 

“Can I see your badge, Officer Lewis?” she asked. Alec blinked at her. 

“Of course,” Alec replied, remembering he was supposed to be Officer Lewis. He pulled the badge out of his pocket and showed it to her. She took it from him and inspected it closely. He looked over at Jace and Izzy discreetly and saw they were receiving the same treatment and the people who had entered in front of them had not. 

“Is there a problem?” Alec asked as innocently as possible. 

“Not at all, sir,” she said, handing him the badge back, “we were just informed that some badges were stolen from your precinct so we just needed to be sure,” 

“Ah, I see,” Alec nodded. She took his hand and stamped in. 

“If you need to leave, it should be no trouble,” she told him, “just show the stamp and you’ll be let back in, but the doors will be locked after nine pm and you need to go back through security before you leave,” 

“Thank you very much,” Alec smiled, pocketing the badge before he made his way through and his siblings joined him soon after.

“All good?” Alec asked.

“Yup,” Izzy replied, “let’s move a little further in,” 

“Doors are locked at nine,” Alec said softly as they moved as a group. 

“That’s early,” Jace remarked as he grabbed two glasses of champagne from one of the waiters before they made their way to a corner. 

“And we need to go back through security before we’re allowed to leave,” Alec told them.

“Something to keep in mind,” Jace handed Alec one of the champagne glasses as Izzy opened her clutch and handed out the comms, which they all put deeply in their ears. 

“Testing,” Alec said softly. They all heard it and gave a slightly nod. 

“See you soon,” Izzy said, leaving the group. Shortly after, Alec and Jace split up with their task of observing the partygoers. They were looking for the various high ranking Seelies to ensure Izzy wouldn’t run into any of them when she went into the offices. 

Izzy wandered through the party, trying to find her mark. They needed a key card to get them into any of the secured areas, and including Meliorn’s office for Izzy to work. They needed her in an office so she could hack the security cameras and hopefully find the full schematics of the building so she could guide Alec and Jace to the jewels. 

Hacking the cameras from inside the building was necessary, as there was a firewall surrounding the whole thing. The good thing about that meant they built their own network, so once Izzy got their comms on the network they would still work deep underground, where they’d be going. 

They knew what they were going to steal, and they knew what level they were kept on, Jonathan had given them that much information, but they didn’t know how to get there. Jace had found out pretty quickly that they weren’t actually stealing the most expensive pieces the Seelies owned. They were the ones that were the most valuable to the Seelies and were therefore the most hidden away. 

Then she saw his mark. Meliorn Seelie. His key card would get them anywhere in the building. She exhaled as she looked at her ex, who hadn’t spotted her yet. They hadn’t had much more than a fling, but it had gone on longer than was healthy for either of them. It had blown up and ended with them resenting each other but inexplicably drawn to one another. The last Izzy had seen him was not long before she met Simon. After that, she had ignored his every attempt to reach out to her and eventually he stopped. 

They’d broken up almost ten years ago and hadn’t seen each other in more than five. She was hoping there would still be some tension between them so she could get close enough to get his ID card. She grabbed two glasses of champagne as she watched him from afar. She didn’t see his keycard on his person and could only assume it was in one of the inner pockets. 

“Meliorn,” Izzy smiled as she approached him. He turned and his eyes widened in surprise. 

“Isabelle,” he turned away from who he was currently talking to, “what are you doing here?” 

“Oh, a friend brought me,” Izzy replied, extending the champagne glass to him, letting her eyes roam his body. He would certainly see this as a flirtatious sign, which certainly worked in her favor, but she was really searching his body for the keycard. 

“How have you been?” he said with a smile, still a little shocked to see her and clearly trying to figure out how she was here and why she was talking to him all of a sudden after almost six years. 

“I’ve been well,” she said, “how about you?”

“I’ve been pretty good,” he smiled, “things have been going well around here,”

“Oh, I’m glad to hear it,” Izzy said, before trailing her hand down his arm, “have you...found anyone?”

“No, I haven’t, I’m rather lonely most nights,” he replied, his eyes on her hand, which was now playing around the lapen of his jacket, “have you?” 

“No. I get lonely sometimes too,” she lied, taking a sip of her drink. Before either of them could say anymore, her phone vibrated. Jace has texted her, like he was supposed to, asking where she was. 

“Oh, excuse me, my friend is looking for me,” Izzy said, “maybe we could keep each other company sometime soon,”

“Tonight, perhaps?” Meliorn smiled though there was a strange look in his eyes, “you could come stay with me. Like the old days,” 

“Come find me later,” Izzy gave him a seductive smile as she let her arm slide inside his jacket and across his torso, not breaking eye contact. She let her hand run over his ass and he let her, smiling wickedly as she did. As she pulled her arm out, she got her fingers on the keycard hanging out of his inner pocket. She pulled it out and tucked it under her own sleeve. 

“I’ll see you later,” Izzy said with a smile, instantly grabbing his attention away from anything he might’ve felt while she touched him.

“Yes you will,” he returned her smile. She gave him a wink before she turned and walked away slowly, accentuating the sway in her hips as she did. As soon as she was sure she was out of his view she changed her walk so she looked as if she moved with purpose towards her goal. 

“I got it,” she said into her comm, placing her glass down on one of the tables as she walked towards the door. Jace moved towards her and they met at the door. 

“Get moving,” Alec said, “we’re already behind,” 

“Yeah yeah,” she grumbled, shaking off her interaction with Meliorn and his piercing gaze on her as she swiped the card on the door that led from the main ballroom space back into the offices. 

“Have you seen Queen?” Jace asked.

“I haven’t,” Alec replied, “she’s the only one I haven’t seen,” 

“We gotta be careful, Izzy,” Jace said to her, “we haven’t seen Queen all night...” 

He trailed off as he looked up and saw they were face to face with Queen Seelie, the leader of the entire organization. 

“Who are you?” she narrowed her eyes. 

“Who are you?” Izzy tried, hoping to confuse her enough so they could get the drop on her. She was notoriously young for what she did and no one knew exactly when she had started, but she had been leading the Seelies for as long as anyone could remember. 

“You’re Circle, aren’t you?” Queen asked. Izzy narrowed her eyes, a little confused as to why she hadn’t instantly called security. She looked at Jace who shrugged. 

“Not exactly,” Izzy replied, deciding to be honest. She had a feeling something more was going on here. 

“But Jonathan sent you?” she insisted. 

“Yes,” Izzy replied, “he kidnapped my brother’s kids we...we didn’t have a choice,”

“Say no more,” she put her hands up. 

“What are you going to do?” Jace asked. 

“Nothing right now,” she said. 

“What?” Jace and Izzy looked at each other. 

“Jonathan and I have a...special relationship,” Queen explained, “and, well, him and I will be having a discussion about this,”

“That’s great, but we were kinda in the middle of something,” Jace gestured behind her. 

“Jace!” Izzy hissed. 

“Relax, I am going to let you continue to do what you’re doing,” Queen said, “if anyone else catches you though, I will not stop them from killing you,”

“Why?” Jace couldn’t stop himself from asking. 

“I have plans with Jonathan,” she said, “and you are a big part of them,” 

“Right...” Izzy nodded slightly. 

“I suggest you get a move on,” Queen told them, “I wouldn’t stick around that long if I were you,” 

Izzy nodded. Queen stepped aside, giving them space to pass her. They quickly walked past her, staring as they did, before she could say anything else and they began running down the hall. 

“What the hell just happened, guys?” Alec said into the comm. 

“I have no idea,” Izzy said as she swiped into another door which led to a stairwell. They went up a flight of stairs then swiped the card to get into that hallway, “shit is about to go down between the Circle and the Seelies,”

“Really?” Alec asked. 

“I think we’re about to start a war,” Izzy mumbled, drawing her own conclusions as she swiped into Meliorn’s office. She handed the card off to Jace, who turned and made his way back down the hall. The only thing that brought her comfort is that the only person who might come to find her now was Meliorn and Jace had his key card. As long as he didn’t lose it, they’d be fine. And even if Meliorn or anyone came to try and get in, they wouldn’t be able to get through the incredibly strong doors. Thankfully for them, everything in the Seelie Court was designed with the assumption no one would ever break in. There were no safeguards in place if someone did break in. 

Luckily for Izzy, the officers were only on the second floor, so if someone did manage to break into this office, she could easily make her escape by jumping out the window into the brush below. 

“I’m in the office, give me a minute,” she mumbled, trying to get into his computer. 

“Ready when you are, Alec,” Jace said. Alec moved towards the door and gave a light knock. Jace pushed it open and let him in and the two made their way down the hall. They went back into the stairwell but instead of going up they went down. 

“Izzy, please tell me you’re in,” Alec said. 

“I am,” she said, “I got our comms on a secure network and I own the cameras. I’m looking at the hallway at the bottom of the stairwell. It’s clear,” 

“Good,” Jace swiped the card and they entered a small hall. 

“Go through the door at the end of the hall,” Izzy said, “there’s a few people. Go through the door at your two o’clock,” 

“Got it,” Alec confirmed. Jace swiped the card and they entered a larger room. Izzy was right, there were a few people milling about, but none of them paid them any attention. Some even gave them a nod of respect as they walked past. Jace swiped them into the other door which led to a spiralled staircase. 

“Go all the way down the stairs,” Izzy said, “it’s on that bottom floor, I just have to figure out exactly where,” 

They made their way down the stairs quickly, trying not to look as if they were moving with purpose but not rushing, just in case anyone walked past. 

“I’m getting fucking dizzy,” Jace mumbled as they passed multiple landings and doors. 

“Keep it together,” Alec replied as they made it to the bottom. 

“Is the other side of this door clear?” Jace asked.

“Yes,” Izzy said, “go to your right when you get through the door,”

“Right,” Jace confirmed, swiping the card and then going through the door with Alec close on his heels. 

“Last door on the left of that hallway,” Izzy instructed, “I only have eyes in the hallway not in that room, so you’re on your own when you’re in there,” 

“Got it,” Alec said as Jace swiped into the door which led to a large, ornate office. 

“Oh it’s a good thing you hooked up with Meliorn,” Jace said, “of all the Seelies...it’s a good thing you picked him,”

“Shut up,” Izzy said, “the entrance is somewhere in that room you have to find it,”

“Maybe behind the portraits?” Jace asked, looking around the room and seeing the portraits of high ranking Seelies, including Queen and Meliorn, lining all the walls. 

“You start on the left, I’ll start on the right,” Alec said and they split off, taking portraits off the wall, “what did Queen say to you guys?”

“That she has plans for Jonathan,” Izzy said through the comm. 

“And so long as no one else caught us tonight, she was going to let us go,” Jace finished. 

“I don’t trust that,” Alec said. 

“Me either,” Izzy agreed, “hurry up. I don’t want to see Meliorn again tonight,”

“Found it,” Jace said, putting the portrait on the ground. 

“Found what?” Izzy asked

“It’s just a keycard slot,” Jace said as Alec came over. 

“It can’t be that easy,” Alec shook his head.

“It might,” Izzy said, “it’s hard to hack a sophisticated keycard system especially in a building this secure,” 

“Let’s just hope Meliorn is high enough in the pecking order,” Jace said, taking out the card. 

“He’s Queen’s second in command,” Izzy said, “so unless Queen is the only one with access, it should work,”

“Moment of truth,” Jace said, putting the keycard in. They pulled it out and heard a click and a hiss. They both turned to where they heard the noise and saw a panel in the wall open up. 

“Holy shit,” Alec walked over and pushed the panel open, “we found it, Izzy,”

“Alright, hurry,” Izzy said. 

“Is something happening?” Jace asked. 

“Something might be brewing. I think Meliorn might be on to me,” Izzy told them. She watched the security cameras and saw more Seelies moving throughout the ballroom and the large atrium they’d come into afterwards. She saw Queen in the ballroom but she couldn't find Meliorn on the camera at all and that scared her most of all.

Meanwhile, Alec and Jace moved deeper inside the vault, making sure the door was wide open. On the pedestals were the jewels they were there to steal. 

“Let’s go,” Jace said, unbuttoning his jacket and pulling out pieces, laying them on the pedestals next to what they were going to steal. Alec did the same. After their pockets were empty, they began taking the real jewels off the pedestals and placing them in the bags in their pockets before putting the fake jewels on the pedestals. 

“Alright, get it moving guys,” Izzy said, “I’m doing more research and the only people who have access to that floor are Queen, Meliorn, and a few others,”

“So?” Jace asked. 

“So if someone sees you come out of there they’ll know you’re not supposed to be in there and there are more people around than before,” she explained. 

“We’re moving,” Alec said, putting the last of the jewels on the pedestal. They left the vault and Alec pulled the wall panel closed while Jace went to rehang the portrait. 

“Is the hallway clear?” Jace asked. 

“Wait,” Alec said. He went to the desk and pulled all the drawers open and found what he was looking for. He held a small gun in his hand as well as a knife. He handed the knife to Jace as both of them knew Alec was a better shot by far and Jace was better at hand to hand. 

“What?” Izzy asked. 

“I took some weapons from the desk,” Alec said, checking the gun before putting it in his pocket, “I’ve got six bullets,” 

“The hallway’s clear,” Izzy said, “go now but wait before going up the stairs,”

They entered the hallway and made their way down before waiting at the stairwell door. 

“No alarms triggered,” Izzy said. 

“I don’t know why they’d have alarms down here if only a few people have keycard access,” Jace said. 

“When you guys go, you need to get up past the next two landings as quickly as possible,” Izzy said, this level and the level above it are super secure and you won’t be able to play it off,”

“Got it,” Alec said, “just tell us when,”

“Now! Go now!” Izzy said. Jace swiped the card and they quickly ran through the door, trying to get up the stairs quickly while keeping their footsteps from echoing through the stairwell. 

“We’ve got someone four levels above you guys,” Izzy said, “when you make it past the second landing, slow down,” 

They did as they were told, controlling their breathing and trying to act normal as possible they made their way up the stairs. 

“Okay, I need to find you guys another way out,” Izzy said, “they’re tripled guards in the main ballroom and they’re starting to move into that big main room you were in before you went down the stairs,” 

“Please don’t get us stuck down here,” Alec mumbled. He had actually begun to hope. He was starting to hope that he would be able to get out of this alive and see his family again. 

“I won’t,” Izzy said, “go through the door of the last landing before the top,”

Neither of them said anything, knowing there were people in the stairwell. When they arrived at the landing, Jace swiped the card and they entered the hallway. There were a few people in the hallway but no one paid them any attention. 

Meanwhile, Izzy began hearing voices outside the door. She kept an eye on the cameras but moved towards the window. She glanced outside and saw there were a few guards circling the building but they were nowhere near the window. She opened the window so she could make an easy exit before going back over to the desk. She pulled open the drawers, looking for a weapon. She found a knife in one of the drawers she was about to close it when she found a file with her photo pinned to the outside.

“Izzy, where to next?” Alec asked her but she didn’t hear him. She was too distracted by the file. She opened it and saw photos of her, her and her brothers, her and Simon and that was just what she saw on top. Meliorn knew about her and Simon. That meant Meliorn knew she was lying. That meant Meliorn knew why she was there. She just had to hope he didn’t know that Alec and Jace were here too. 

“Izzy!” Jace hissed. 

“Right,” she said, shutting the drawer and putting the file on the desk. There was no way she was leaving that file here. She grabbed a binder clip and clipped it shut so she wouldn’t lose any of the papers inside when she jumped from the window. She heard more voices outside and the doorknob jiggled. 

“Keep following the hall you’re in. Make a left, then a right, then go through the first door on the right,” Izzy said quickly, pushing Meliorn from her mind completely, knowing she couldn’t think about him if she wanted any chance of escape, “I might need to leave soon,” 

“Where does this hallway lead?” Jace asked. 

“Stairwell, which should leave to an emergency exit,” Izzy said. She heard the pounding on the door continue before someone yelled for a drill. 

“I need to go,” Izzy said, “are you guys okay?”

“As long as this leads to an exit,” Jace said as he swiped the card and the two entered the stairwell. 

“We’ll meet you at the car,” Alec said. Izzy closed out of the cameras as she heard a violent bang against the door. She looked at the door then back at the computer before putting her heel through it so they wouldn’t be able to see anything she was looking at. She grabbed the knife and the file before she ran for the window. She stood waiting for a moment for the guard immediately in front of the window to move past. 

“Once I leave the building you guys are on your own until you get out,” Izzy said, “I’ll be outside the firewall,”

“Go,” Alec said. Izzy took one last look back at the door before she jumped out the window. She crouched as she hit the ground and rolled before staying low to the ground. None of the guards seemed bothered. All she had to do was stay low and get to the car. The only problem was there was an open field between her and the parking lot. 

She decided to stay in the bushes near the building and try to make her way around the front. Her jumpsuit was dark so the only thing that would be easy to spot would be the manilla folder in her hand, but she couldn’t let go of it. She couldn’t leave this file with all this information on her and Simon in Meliorn’s possession. She couldn’t dwell much on this now, though. She needed to focus on getting out of here. 

Inside, Jace and Alec were not in any better position than she was in. The stairwell they were in lead right back into the large room they’d entered after they’d left the ballroom. They stopped for a moment, both shocked at where they’d ended up, expecting to be led to a service entrance or some other abandoned emergency exit. There were many more people in there now, none of them doing much besides probably waiting for them. When no one turned to them they began moving across the room towards the door that led back to the ballroom. 

“Excuse me,” 

The voice came from behind them but they kept walking, not wanting to stop. 

“Excuse me!” 

They turned around and were face to face with Meliorn Seelie. 

“Yes?” Alec looked innocently. It was hard for him to keep a straight face around a man who had caused his sister so much pain. 

“What are you doing here?” he asked. 

“We’re just heading back to the party,” Jace said, grabbing Alec by the shoulder, “so if you’ll excuse us-” 

“How did you get down here?” he asked. 

“A girl brought us down here,” Jace said. As he spoke, Alec let his hand slide down Jace’s side and grip the handle of the knife in Jace’s pocket, “then she disappeared on us,” 

“But you’re both married,” Meliorn said, pointing to their hands where both of them were currently wearing their wedding rings. 

“You two are going to have to come with us and then we’re going to go find your sister,” Meliorn said. Before anyone could do anything else, Alec pulled the knife from Jace’s pocket and plunged it into Meliorn’s stomach. No one around them reacted, too in shock. Even Jace’s jaw dropped. Alec pulled the knife from Meliorn’s stomach as he fell to the ground and quickly handed it back to Jace. Just as Alec grabbed him and began running towards the door, everyone started moving. 

There were gunshots behind them and people running towards them. Alec took the gun from his own pocket and shot someone who was in their way. Beside him, Jace cut someone else down. Alec body slammed another that came up on them, pushing them to the ground and then shot someone who was about to shoot Jace. 

Then he felt a bullet rip into his calf. 

“ARGH! Fuck!” Alec yelled, stumbling and grabbing onto Jace. Jace was caught slightly off guard, but still managed to get an arm under his brother. 

“I got you, Alec,” Jace said, catching Alec before he fell and pulling him up. Someone in front of them opened the door and Alec raised the gun and shot them. He had three bullets left. Jace grabbed the door and the two made it through, shutting it behind them. Jace put the knife through the handles, hoping it would but them a little bit of time. 

“Can you walk?” Jace asked, tugging Alec along. 

“Yes,” Alec said, putting weight on his leg and hissing as he did. Jace held him up a little as they made their way to the next door. 

“We gotta act as normal as possible,” Jace said. 

“I’ll be fine,” Alec said, “just hurry,”

Jace nodded, swiping the card and helping his brother through the door just as the other one opened behind them. They heard one shot go off before they shut the door. Jace held Alec up as they made their way up the stairs, with Alec essentially hopping up. He had a feeling he was going to have to run later and didn’t want to make his leg worse now. 

“Clary’s nurse’s bag in the car,” Jace said, “we just gotta keep going,” 

Alec said nothing as they made it to the top of the stairs. Jace swiped the card as they heard voices below them. They made it through the door and started moving quicker. 

“We need to move faster,” Alec said, putting weight on his leg and helping Jace help him along. When they made it to the end of the hall, Jace swiped the card and they reentered the main ballroom. 

They walked quickly but tried their best to blend in. Jace saw Queen across the room and she only winked at him. He paused for a moment and stared at her, wondering if she had set them up. 

“Jace,” Alec hissed. Then they heard shouting behind them and a gunshot. People around them screamed and immediately every gun in the room was out. Alec put his full weight on his leg and started running with Jace keeping him from tripping. Alec took out his gun and shot at the people at the main entrance causing them to scream and move out of their way. As they ran through the metal detectors they went off, but they didn’t care. They went to body slam the closed door but it didn’t budge. 

“Fuck!” Jace yelled. 

“Stand back,” Alec shot the glass door with the last two bullets he had and Jace slammed through the glass, shattering it. He landed on the ground on the other side and Alec quickly hopped through the glass, yelling in pain when he landed. 

“Let’s go!” Alec yelled, grabbing the back of Jace’s jacket and pulling him up best he could in his injured state. Jace’s jacket was torn and his face was cut from the glass they had just slammed through as blood began streaming down Jace’s face and into his eye. 

Meanwhile, Izzy still was hiding in the bushes, creeping slowly towards the front. She could see the lights coming from the front and she knew she’d be able to get up soon. 

Then she heard screaming and gunshots coming from inside. The guard closest to her turned his back to her as he faced the front door. She saw someone crash through one of the doors and the guard raised his gun to shoot, but Izzy launched herself out of the bush and stabbed him. 

She pulled the knife out as he fell to the ground and saw Alec pulling Jace off the ground. Alec was visibly limping and Jace had blood covering the side of his face. She climbed over the guard she just stabbed but he grabbed her around the ankle, pulling her to the ground. She screamed when she landed on her wrist, crushing it under her weight. She kicked around, trying to hit his head and she eventually made contact enough for him to loosen his grip. She crawled away before running towards her brothers. 

She saw Jace holding Alec up as they ran away from the mob of Seelies chasing them to the car. Izzy ran up and held up his other side allowing them all to move faster. 

“Izzy?” Alec looked at her, clearly a little worn from the blood loss. 

“The one and only,” she said. 

“He’s lost a lot of blood, Iz,” Jace said. 

“Okay, you get him in the trunk and start stitching him up,” Izzy said, “I’ll drive,”

“You think I can stitch him up while we’re driving out of here!?” Jace asked, “I’m not that good!” 

“Try to stop the bleeding until we get to a place where we’re stable enough to stitch him up,” Izzy said, they were essentially carrying Alec between them as he bled more, “we’re not letting him die,” 

Izzy removed the key from her pocket and opened the trunk of the car. They were still being shot at but it was too dark for them to be reliably seen, given they were all wearing black. When they arrived at the car, Jace picked Alec up and put him in the trunk before climbing in with him. He pulled the trunk closed as Izzy started the car. 

She immediately backed out of the spot as Jace folded down the backseats and turned on the light, giving him more space and light to work. He pushed everything they had in the trunk to the side and moved Alec’s body so his legs were stretched out. 

“You still with us, Alec?” Jace asked. 

“Uh-huh,” Alec nodded lightly, “gotta get my boys,”

“We’re gonna get your boys,” Jace assured, pulling up Alec’s pant leg revealing the wound, “fuck,”

“What?” Alec mumbled. 

“The bullet’s still in you,” Jace grumbled. Then the whole car bounced, throwing them up in the air. Alec screamed in pain. 

“Sorry!” Izzy called, “we just had to jump a barrier,” 

“We just escaped the Seelie Court in one piece! Don’t kill us driving out of here!,” Jace yelled, grabbing a towel from the pile of stuff in the trunk and putting it over Alec’s wound. Alec screamed as he put pressure on it.

“Sorry, Alec,” Jace said, looking at the pained expression on his brother’s pale and sweat covered face. 

“We’re being followed,” Alec said, pointing out the back window. Jace ducked down the second a shot broke the back windshield, raining glass down on both of them. 

“Just what I need, more fucking glass,” Jace mumbled. He used his sleeve and wiped as much blood as he could away from his eyes. He wasn’t worried about his own blood loss, just being able to see enough to take care of Alec. He was, however, worried about getting shot by the Seelies pursuing them. 

“Jace! Shoot back!” Izzy yelled .

“Right!” Jace let go over the towel on Alec’s leg and found the bag with their weapons. He opened it and grabbed the first gun he got his hand on. He raised it and shot but knew he hit nothing. 

“Ugh, Alec I wish you could shoot for me,” Jace grumbled, trying to steady his shaking, bloody hand before shooting again. He hit their windshield but that wasn’t enough to stop them. He fired again, trying to hit someone in the car, but again failing. 

“Hang on!” Izzy called just as they made a sharp turn. Jace did his best to brace himself and Alec but they still went flying. Jace quickly regained his bearings and put pressure back on Alec’s wound. 

“Still with me, Alec?” Jace asked, stopping shooting for a moment to check on his brother. 

“Yeah,” Alec nodded, his voice light and a little dizzy as he gave a weak thumbs up. 

“I’m getting on the highway!” Izzy called, “we can circle back if we have to. It’s the only place we’ll lose them,” 

“Good,” Jace responded, turning the light off. He knew they’d be very easy to follow if they had the car light on while they were surrounded by dark cars. He raised the gun and shot until it was empty, still hitting nothing but the windshield, and he didn’t even hit it enough to break it. 

“Getting on the ramp. Hang on!” Izzy yelled. Jace dropped low and grabbed Alec, bracing them for the turn. He held himself and Alec in place as they took a sharp turn. The towel he held was now soaked in blood so he threw it aside and grabbed another. 

“I’ve only got one more towel you better stop bleeding,” Jace grumbled. 

“Yeah, let me just tell my bullet wound to stop bleeding,” Alec slurred a bit as he replied. 

“I’ve never been so happy to hear you be a sarcastic bitch,” Jace chuckled which caused Alec to laugh. 

“Jace! Did we lose them?” Izzy asked. Jace popped his head up, looking out the back window. He tried to look at the cars surrounding them but couldn’t see who was in any of them. 

“I assume we did because I wasn’t shot just now when I poked my head up like a fucking prarie dog,” Jace said. 

“Has Jonathan contacted you?” Izzy asked. 

“I don’t know,” Jace said, removing his phone and handing it to Alec, “Alec, look and see if Jonathan contacted me. I’m going to try and fix you,” 

Alec nodded, taking the phone and beginning to look through it. Though he was lightheaded from the bloodloss, he could still read. He saw there was a message from Jonathan with an address and Alec took out his phone and texted it to Magnus. He felt Jace take the pressure off his leg but leave the towel. 

“He sent an address,” Alec said, handing Jace the phone. Jace handed the phone to Izzy before turning the car light back on so he could see. 

“Jersey?” Izzy sighed, “really?”

“I guess,” Alec mumbled. Meanwhile, Jace opened Clary’s nurse’s bag. 

“Oh, lucky you,” Jace said. 

“What?” Alec tried to turn to him. 

“We’ve got some novocaine,” Jace said as he wiped some alcohol over a part of his leg near the wound.

“No!” Alec yelled. 

“What?” Jace looked at him, wide eyed with the needle in his hand.

“If we have to fight Jonathan, I need to be able to stand,” Alec said. 

“You won’t be able to fight him at all if you pass out from the pain of me taking a fucking bullet out of your leg,” Jace took the cap off the needle and pushed it into his leg before he could continue to protest. Jace removed the needle and put the cap back on before throwing it in the bag. He grabbed a flashlight and turned it on, holding it between his teeth so he could have even more light. He then removed forceps from the box and used the towel to wipe away as much blood from the wound as possible. 

“Take a deep breath,” Jace said. As soon as Alec did as he was told, he pushed the forceps into the wound. 

“Motherfucker,” Alec growled, and immediately his hands curled into tight fists, still not completely numb. Jace heard him suck in another breath as he pushed deeper, trying to find the bullet. When he found it he pinched it tight and slowly pulled it out, not wanting any of it to fall off as he pulled it out. 

Once the bullet was removed, Jace quickly recovered the wound with the towel and dropped the flashlight from his mouth. He picked up the bullet and inspected it, ensuring he had removed it all. When he was satisfied, he dropped everything in his hands and put pressure on the wound. He kept one hand on the towel and began searching through the bag for something to close the wound.

“Hanging in there, Alec?” Jace asked. 

“Yup,” Alec called back, “and I can still feel my toes,” 

“Good,” Jace said, removing a stapler from the box, “alright, we’ve only got a stapler,”

“Just do it,” Alec instructed. 

“Where’d you even learn that?” Izzy asked, glancing at them briefly in the rearview. 

“Clary taught me the basics earlier in the week,” Jace replied as he stapled Alec’s wound closed, “just in case,”

“Just in case,” Izzy mumbled. Jace only nodded as he finished closing the wound. He cleaned it as best he could with the small amount of wipes they had in the bag. He put some antibiotic cream on it before covering it in gauze and wrapping a bandage around his leg to hold the gauze in place. The gauze began turning red but it wasn’t soaking through completely. 

“Here,” Jace said, handing him some painkillers. 

“Thanks,” Alec said, taking the pills. 

“Still doing alright?” Jace asked.

“A little lightheaded, but I’ll make it through,” Alec replied, rolling over so he was laying on his back, “how long til we get there?” 

“About a half hour,” Izzy said. 

“Are you okay?” Jace asked her. 

“I think I broke my wrist, but I’ll be fine,” Izzy replied. 

“Hang on,” Jace grabbed an ace bandage and painkillers before climbing into the front seat, “take these” 

Izzy held out her bad hand, leaving her good hand on the wheel. Jace put the pills in her hand before tossing them in her mouth and holding out her hand again. 

“Jesus, Jace,” Izzy said, catching a glimpse of Jace’s face out of the corner of her eye, “your face,”

“It looks worse than it is,” Jace said, beginning to wrap her hand, “I slammed through a glass door and just got a few small cuts. It’s stopped bleeding, but there’s still glass in my face, I can feel it. I’ll have Clary deal with it when we get home,”

“Okay,” she said as Jace finished up and he went to climb into the back seat, but his foot slipped against something on the floor. He fell back into the seat and went to pick it up off the floor.

“Izzy,” Jace said. 

“Yeah?”

“What’s this?” Jace held the file that Izzy had stolen. 

“What is that?” Alec asked, sitting up best he could. 

“I found that in Meliorn’s desk,” Izzy sighed, “it’s full of information on me and Simon,” 

“How much?” Alec asked

“I don’t know. I haven’t been able to read the whole thing,” Izzy replied, “I bet he’s the reason we got caught. He knew I was dating Simon so knew I didn’t come over to flirt with him,” 

“Dick,” Alec mumbled, “I’m glad I stabbed him,”

“What? You stabbed him?!” Izzy turned around to look at him and would’ve run them off the road if Jace hadn’t grabbed the wheel. 

“Just in the stomach,” Alec brushed her off. 

“Just the stomach?!” she yelled, again turning the wheel as she turned to try and look at Alec. 

“Focus on driving!” Jace yelled, “we just survived the fucking Seelie Court I refuse to let you kill us in a car!”

“Guys,” Alec said, a realization dawning over him, “we just rob the Seelie Court...and survived,”

“Yeah, yeah we did,” Jace replied. 

“Holy shit,” Alec said, unable to hold back his laughter. A few tears spilled from his eyes as his siblings joined in his laughter. They had made it through the Seelie Court and survived. They had done what Jonathan had asked. They were going to get his children. They were all going to go home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i didn't mention this before, but i gotta say i love all the comments you guys are leaving. i love interacting with you guys cause you give me all sorts of ideas on how to tweek this story. I have change so much based on your suggestions or predictions you’ve made that read and been like “oh damn that is so much better than what i originally wrote” so trust this story is NOT the same story it was when i published the first chapter and that’s all because of you guys so thank you for helping me to make this story what it is and helping it grow into this piece that im really proud of.   
> see you guys next week! warning in advance, chapter 6 is dark, one of the darkest things i've ever written.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Drop

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Ngl I nearly forgot it was Friday, I was getting dressed for work and I was like "wAIT IT'S FRIDAY!". :O I know! How could I forget? I've been excited about this one.  
> But the good news is I remembered!  
> Anyways, even though his chapter is dark, I'm super happy with the way it came out, and I think it is still one of the best things I've written in terms of emotional depth.  
> Warning: violence, blood, graphic torture scene

“What weapons do we have?” Alec asked, trying his best to look around in the mess of the trunk. He was still laying down and with both him and Jace squished together so it was hard to truly maneuver to see what they had. 

“Few guns, a couple knives,” Jace replied, pulling the bag with weapons from the other side of the trunk.

“And your bow,” Izzy said. 

“What? My bow?” Alec asked, “why the hell did you bring my bow?” 

“It was Magnus’ idea. He talked to me last night,” Jace said, “he said that you would rather enjoy putting an arrow between Jonathan’s eyes,”

“That’s archaic,” Alec commented, but thought for a moment. His husband knew him well, “but true,” 

“This is it,” Izzy said, pulling the car over and quickly shutting it off outside an abandoned shipping warehouse. She got out of the car and opened the trunk. Jace climbed out and Alec sat up, scooting to the edge and hanging his feet out. 

“How many guns do we have?” Alec asked. 

“Two now,” Jace said, “Izzy and I each brought a gun back with us earlier so Clary and Simon would have something to protect themselves with if they need it,”

“What about Magnus?” Alec asked. 

“There’s still one at your house,” Izzy said, “we assured that,” 

“And you don’t have any more bullets?” Alec asked, picking up the empty gun Jace had shot with earlier and sliding the clip out, seeing it was in fact, empty. 

“I grabbed everything Simon had on hand, but it wasn’t much,” Izzy said, “he doesn’t like to keep a lot around the house,” 

“I’ll take that as a no?” Alec raised an eyebrow, “you brought guns but no extra bullets?”

“We had a lot going on,” Jace replied. 

“Alright,” Alec sighed, tossing the gun aside, “give me the bow,” 

With his vision now clear, he looked around and saw the case that held his bow and the quiver beside it. He took the knife Jace gave him before opening the case. He slung the quiver over his back and took the bow from the case, pulling at the string to make sure it was tight. 

“I can’t believe I’m walking in here with a fucking bow,” Alec grumbled. He pulled on a pair of fingerless gloves he wore to protect his hands. 

“Well, we wanted to make sure Magnus, Clary, and Simon had some sort of protection,” Izzy said, “we didn’t know what was going to happen,” 

“When you guys talked to Queen did she know who you were?” Alec asked, trying to gauge how concerned he should be about the Seelies coming for Magnus. 

“No, but Meliorn did. He knows all of us,” Izzy sighed, “that was my main concern. That the Seelies would come for them. Especially after I found that damn file,” 

“But they’re gonna be fine,” Jace said, cocking the gun in his hand, “they’re all gonna be fine,” 

“Let’s do this,” Alec said, sliding out of the back of the car. He walked around a little bit, testing his leg, hopping up and down lightly. He was limping due to the numbness in his calf, but stable enough to hold his own. He looked down and saw he was bleeding through the bandage but didn’t much care. He was going to get his boys back. He was going to see his husband again. He was determined now. He was going to make it through this. 

They walked down the path, looking for an entrance. Izzy pointed to the door and the others nodded, moving towards the door together. There was one streetlamp on across the street, but other than that their only light was the moon. When they arrived at the door, Izzy grabbed the handle, going to pull the sliding door open. Alec pulled an arrow from the quiver and notched it in his bow string, shaking his head as he did. 

Jace nodded and Izzy threw the door open. Alec and Jace walked in, weapons raised, looking around, waiting for an ambush. Izzy came in as well with her back to her brothers, watching their six. They moved further into the dark warehouse, looking for Jonathan or any other Circle members. 

Then the lights flipped on. 

All three of them jumped, looking around for anyone. 

“The Shadowhunters have arrived at last!” 

All three of them turned and had weapons trained on Jonathan instantly, seeing him standing between them and the door. 

“Where are my kids?” Alec asked. 

“Patience now,” Jonathan patronized, “I’m honestly surprised to see you all together,”

“You didn’t think we’d survive?” Izzy asked, almost offended. 

“No, I knew you’d survive, but I’m surprised Jace is here,” Jonathan smiled, a glimmer of something in his eye. That’s when Alec realized what was happening. 

“Why wouldn’t he be?” Izzy asked, looking at Jace. 

“Shut up,” Alec said, raising the bow, “where are my kids?”

“If you shoot me, you’ll never know where your children are,” Jonathan said. 

“Alec, what is he talking about?” Jace asked. 

“Of course,” Jonathan laughed, “he didn’t tell you, did he?” 

“Tell me what?” Jace lowered his gun and looked at Alec. 

“Alec?” Izzy also looked at him. 

“We got you what you want, Jonathan, give me my children back,” Alec said, taking a few steps closer to him, only holding the bowstring with one finger, threatening to let it slip. 

“No no, this is fun,” Jonathan replied before turning to Jace, “you know, Jace, our intention was never for your baby to die,” 

“Oh, you are walking on some very thin ice,” Jace said, his voice low and angry as he raised his gun again, walking to stand next to Alec. 

“We just thought we’d take your wife for a bit. We figured a pregnant woman wouldn’t put up much of a fight and we figured four of our best guys were enough to take you, we were clearly wrong,” Jonathan shrugged, “but do you know why we came for her?”

“Jonathan…” Alec growled. 

“Because your brother-in-law decided it would be a WONDERFUL idea to attack me,” Jonathan smiled, “and with your brother’s permission too,”

“What?” Jace’s voice was low as he slowly lowered his gun. 

“Magnus reached out to me, said he wanted to talk,” Jonathan explained, “he tried to bargain for the kids, I said no, and he attacked me,” 

“And you let him do that?” Jace turned to Alec.

“I wasn’t there,” Alec said. 

“But you did tell him to talk to me,” Jonathan said. 

“How do you know that?” Alec asked. 

“Oh, you think we didn’t have your fire house bugged too?” Jonathan laughed, “after Magnus attacked me, he begged me not to hurt his kids, he was on his knees, and who am I to refuse anyone on their knees,” 

A silence filled the warehouse. Jace was staring at the ground, processing what he had just been told while Izzy and Alec looked between Jace and Jonathan, waiting for someone to say something. 

“Is it true?” Jace asked softly, staring at the ground, “Alec...is he telling the truth?” 

Alec sighed, lowering his bow slightly, not meeting his brother’s eyes, “yes,” 

“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!” Jace screamed, causing Alec and Izzy to jump. Alec nearly dropped his bow and Izzy quickly moved so she had her gun trained on Jonathan. 

“Please, you have to let me explain,” Alec said, turning to his brother. 

“EXPLAIN?! WHAT IS THERE TO FUCKING EXPLAIN!?” Jace yelled. 

“Jace, you cannot understand the position Magnus and I were in,” Alec growled, “but we can’t do this now,”

“WE CAN’T DO THIS NOW?! OH NO, WE’RE DOING THIS NOW!” Jace yelled, pointing his gun at Alec’s head. 

“Woah Jace!” Izzy yelled, turning to her brothers and grabbing Jace’s arm, trying to pull his gun from Alec’s face but he wouldn’t budge.

“Jace…” Alec looked at him down the barrel of the gun, his voice fading, “I’m sorry,”

“I’M-WHAT-YOU’RE SORRY?!” Jace screamed, “MY CHILD IS FUCKING DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU AND ALL YOU ARE IS SORRY?!!” 

“I AM MORE THAN JUST SORRY, JACE I FEEL TERRIBLE! MAGNUS AND I BOTH DO!” Alec yelled back, “BUT IF WE DON’T FOCUS NOW MY CHILDREN ARE GOING TO DIE TOO AND THAT’S WHY I DIDN’T FUCKING TELL YOU BECAUSE I KNEW THIS WAS GOING TO FUCKING HAPPEN!”

“WERE YOU EVER GONNA FUCKING TELL ME?!” Jace screamed, tears gathering in his eyes. 

“Jace, get that gun out of his face!” Izzy ordered, grabbing Jace’s arm and pulling it down but it sprung right back up. 

“YES OF COURSE I WAS GOING TO TELL YOU!” Alec yelled, “YOU’RE MY GODDAMN BROTHER I COULDN’T KEEP THAT FROM YOU! BUT I HAD TO THINK OF MY CHILDREN AND MY HUSBAND!”

“BEFORE MY CHILD?!” Jace stepped closer into his space. 

“YES!” Alec replied. Jace yelled and grabbed Alec around the waist and tackled him to the ground. Having caught Alec off guard, his bow went sliding across the floor and Jace dropped the gun next to them. He raised his fist and brought it down straight on Alec’s face before doing it again and again. Alec didn’t even try to stop him.

“Jace! Stop!” Izzy turned away from Jonathan, knowing she needed to keep her brothers from killing each other if they were ever going to get her nephews back. 

“JACE! STOP IT! Izzy yelled, tackling Jace off of Alec. She slapped him across the face after his back hit the floor.

“GET OFF ME!” Jace yelled, trying to push her off but she only slapped him again on the other side of his face. 

“NO! You need to STOP!” she yelled, gripping his shoulders tightly and forcing him to look at her, “we will never get Max and Rafe back if you kill Alec in the middle of this warehouse,”

“Jace,” Alec sat up slowly, his lip was busted and his cheek bruised and cut, “look, I know you better than anyone. You’re my brother. I knew that if I told you about this before we went on this job you wouldn’t come and we needed you,” 

“YOU’RE FUCKING RIGHT YOU NEEDED ME OTHERWISE YOU WOULD’VE FUCKING BLED OUT INSIDE THE SEELIE COURT,” Jace yelled, sitting up and pushing Izzy off him, “ASSUMING YOU FUCKING MADE IT OUT OF THERE ALIVE,”

“You need to let me explain,” Alec said, knowing that yelling at Jace would only make this worse. He had a tremendous amount of guilt surrounding what had happened to Clary, but he needed to focus on his own children right now. 

“THEN FUCKING EXPLAIN!” Jace screamed. 

“I will when I have my children safely at home,” Alec replied before he rolled over slightly, grabbing his bow and the arrow that had fallen nearby. He stood and had the bow trained on Jonathan once again, “where the hell are they?” 

“Oh come on, this is fun!” Jonathan laughed. 

“Well the show’s over,” Izzy said, focused back on Jonathan. She sent a death glare to Jace as she stood, pointing her gun at Jonathan once again.

“Where are they, Jonathan?” Izzy asked, taking a step closer. 

“Let me see what you brought me,” Jonathan said. Alec looked back at Jace who stood up and opened his jacket, removing the jewels. Alec nodded. He knew the conversation wasn’t over but was grateful that his brother had turned his focus back to his own children. Alec lowered his bow before reaching into his own jacket, pulling the jewels from his pocket as well. Alec handed his to Jace before taking his bow back out and pointing it at Jonathan. 

“So you actually did it?” Jonathan asked, a little surprised. 

“I’ve got the bullet wound to prove it,” Alec grumbled. 

“Bring them here,” Jonathan said. Jace began moving towards him.

“Tell me where the kids are first,” Alec said suddenly, and Jace stopped immediately, still a few feet from Jonathan. 

“You’re in no place to make demands,” Jonathan chastised.

“Why the hell would I want these?!” Alec yelled, “I just want my children back,”

“And you’ll get them,” Jonathan smiled, “but I need to ensure that the jewels you’re giving me are real because I know Jace’s talents,” 

“Give them to him,” Alec ordered. Izzy and Alec kept their weapons trained on Jonathan as Jace moved towards him slowly, cautiously watching the shadows. He placed them in Jonathan’s outstretched hand before retreating back towards his siblings, never turning his back to the other man. 

“Now,” Alec said once Jace had returned to them, “where are my kids?” 

“Hmm…” Jonathan inspected the jewels, ignoring Alec’s question, “I’m surprised you got them,”

“Cut the bullshit, Jonathan, where are my kids?!” Alec nearly yelled. 

“What if I don’t want to tell you?” Jonathan asked. 

“Jonathan, we did what you asked,” Izzy cut in, “tell us where the kids are,”

“No,” Jonathan smiled. Alec pulled the string back on his bow, the arrow aimed right between Jonathan’s eyes. 

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” 

The group turned around and were face to face with Queen Seelie. Immediately, Alec’s bow was trained on her while Jace and Izzy didn’t know who to keep an eye on. 

“Why the fuck are you here?!” Jace asked. 

“I thought you had plans for Jonathan?! I thought you wanted to start a war!” Izzy’s jaw dropped. Alec kept his eye on both gang bosses, prepared for them to strike at any moment as he tried to figure out what was going on here. 

“No, I said I had plans with Jonathan. And ask yourself, why would I want to start a war with him?” Queen said, “there’s nothing in it for me,”

“You’d own the Circle,” Jace said, “all its resources,”

“I already own the Circle,” Queen told them. 

“All of them?” Izzy asked, shocked. 

“Except us,” Alec said, finally putting it all together in his head. The Seelies somehow gained control of the Circle, most likely through whatever relationship Queen and Jonathan have. Jonathan told her, or she already knew, about the Shadowhunters and she wanted them to be a part of their domain. 

“This job was a test,” Alec said, not moving his bow. 

“Smart boy,” Queen smiled. It all made sense now. The Circle usually stayed away from children, no one was allowed to join the gang until they turned eighteen and they did not do any jobs involving kids. The Seelies on the other hand have no problem doing jobs with children.  
“Where are my kids?” Alec asked, the arrow still pointed at Queen. He was beginning to get scared. Scared that Jonathan wouldn’t tell him where his kids were and they wouldn’t get them back. 

“Oh, only Jonathan knows that,” she shrugged. 

“Tell me, Jonathan,” Alec said, not looking at him, “or I’ll put one right between her eyes,” 

Any other day, Alec would know his own threat was bullshit, but today, he wasn’t so sure.

“You know the great thing about my relationship, Alec?” Jonathan asked. Alec looked back at Jonathan for a second before turning back to Queen, moving so there was only one finger on the bow string, “I know that Queen is perfectly capable of taking care of herself so I am fully comfortable telling you to shoot her,”

Before he knew what he was doing, Alec let go of the string and the arrow flew across the room. In the second that the arrow should’ve lodged itself in her skull, she caught it, right in front of her face. 

“Holy shit,” Jace’s jaw dropped as Queen tossed the arrow onto the ground. 

“You see, Jace, it wasn’t Circle members who came for your wife the other night,” Jonathan said.

“Oh don’t you dare bring this up again,” Jace growled, pointing his gun at Jonathan. 

“They were Seelies,” Jonathan smiled, “it was actually Queen’s idea to go after her,” 

“Oh, so it’s you I should kill then,” Jace said, switching his aim so he had his gun pointed at Queen. 

Queen only raised a condescending eyebrow, “you saw how well that went for your brother,”

“Try dodging a bullet,” Jace said.

“I wouldn’t do that,” she tsked. 

“Try me,” Jace growled. Queen only raised her hand and flicked her fingers, as if calling someone towards her. They heard footsteps and muffled voices coming from behind Queen and before they could ask what was happening two Seelies emerged from the door they came in, dragging Simon and Clary with them. They both had gags in their mouths and their hands were restrained behind their backs. 

“Clary!” 

“Simon!” 

Izzy and Jace both went to move towards their partners but the Seelies holding them put knives to their necks, halting both of them in their place. The only thing Alec noticed was that Magnus was not with the group. 

“Where’s Magnus!?” Alec asked urgently, fearing the worst. Clearly the Seelies were sent after their loved ones after they left, and it terrified him that Magnus wasn’t there. 

“He’ll be around,” Queen said. 

“What did you do to him?” Alec asked, looking between Queen and Jonathan. 

“You’ll see,” Queen smiled. 

“I swear to god if you do not tell me where he is and where my children are right now,” Alec growled, even more anger building inside him, “I will personally slaughter every single one of you,” 

“Oh, Alec,” Jonathan tsked at him, “you’re not going to do anything to us, especially to me. We hold all the cards. You kill any of us, we kill your spouses. And, only I know where your children are. If you kill me, they’ll die of dehydration before you would even get close to finding them,” 

“Then what the fuck do you want?!” Alec yelled, a small sob breaking in his throat. He was completely helpless in this situation and it was breaking him. There was nothing he could do to save his family, but he was the only one who could do it. 

“Here’s how things are going to go,” Jonathan said, “Queen and I are going to walk out of here with Clary and Simon here,”

“No, you let them go,” Jace pointed his gun at Jonathan. 

“That won’t happen,” Queen said, “we need someone to ensure all of you do as your told,” 

“Exactly,” Jonathan agreed, “your nephews won’t keep you here forever. It’s only a matter of time before the two of you run off,”

“No, we love those kids as much as Alec does,” Izzy insisted, fear evident in her voice, “you don’t have to take them too!”

“Yes we do,” Queen said. 

“Once the Seelies hiding in the shadows here give you permission to go, you will go home,” Jonathan instructed, “once you’re there, you will wait for your next assignment,”

“You give me my kids first,” Alec ordered. 

“How do we know you won’t just run?” Queen asked. 

“I won’t, I swear,” Alec promised, “knowing that you’d be able to come back and take them whenever you wanted...I’ll do whatever you want,”

Alec looked between Jonathan and Queen, trying to find some sort of sympathy from either of them. He knew it was a shot in the dark, but he was hoping that he could appeal to what little humanity the two of them had left. 

“Just please,” Alec begged, “let me take them home,” 

“No,” Jonathan laughed before extending his hand out to Queen, “Queen? Are we ready,” 

“Oh you aren’t going anywhere until you tell me where my kids are you piece of shit,” 

Before anyone realized what happened, a gunshot echoed through the room. All three Lightwoods spun to see Magnus standing in the door, gun smoking, and a bullet hole in Jonathan’s leg. 

“Magnus!?” Alec’s jaw hit the floor. Magnus ignored him, instead going over to Jonathan. Before Magnus could reach him, however, the Seelies who were hiding in the shadows emerged, instantly converging on Magnus. Alec raised his bow and shot, hitting a guy who was about to tackle Magnus to the ground. Izzy and Jace moved quickly, shooting at the Seelies who were holding Clary and Simon. They both fell quickly and Simon and Clary ran towards them in the center of the room with Magnus on their heels. 

“Magnus!” Alec smiled as he approached them, “oh thank god, you’re alive!”

“Alive as ever,” Magnus said, kissing him quickly as Jace and Izzy freed Clary and Simon, “they came to the loft and I managed to escape and I was driving, trying to think of somewhere safe for me to go and I got your text and I knew it was a set up and I knew I had to come and-”

Alec kissed him again, hard. 

“Clary, are you okay?” Jace asked, a hand on her cheek as he pulled the gag out of her mouth. 

“I’m okay,” she nodded, massaging her wrists, “they came to the house and-” 

“I’m sorry,” Jace said softly, kissing her quick. 

“Izzy, this is fucking crazy,” Simon said as Izzy cut him loose. 

“You’re telling me,” Izzy shook her head as she freed him before turning back to the ever growing crowd of Seelies and Circle that were surrounding them. 

“Do you guys have weapons?” Alec asked Clary and Simon. When they shook their heads, Jace and Izzy handed off their knives so they’d have something to defend themselves with.

“Let’s do this,” Alec said before both he and Magnus turned to fight their adversaries. Magnus turned to begin fighting the Seelies who were closing in on them. Alec turned and grabbed his knife, stabbing it into one of the Seelies who was coming after Jace. He ran forward a few steps forward before shooting at one of the Seelies helping Jonathan to his feet. 

Magnus punched an oncoming Seelie before sweeping his legs out from under him. He stomped on his head until he was unconscious. Magnus turned and watched Alec shoot someone else who was trying to help Jonathan. Alec looked and saw Jace and Izzy handling their own group of Seelies, mainly trying to protect Clary and Simon. Alec shot one who was about to take Clary down and threw his knife at another who was coming for Magnus. As he fell, Alec pulled the knife from his lifeless body. 

Magnus then took out his gun and shot someone who was about to tackle Alec to the ground. Alec pulled an arrow from the body he’d just shot before shooting it at someone else near Jonathan. Before he could shoot another, he was cut off by the guy Magnus just shot pulling him to the ground. Still bleeding, he climbed on top of Alec and began choking him. Magnus saw this and ran over before putting four bullets into his back. He coughed blood all over Alec before collapsing on top of him. 

Alec pushed the body off of him and climbed to his feet. He ran and jumped on the back of someone attacking Izzy. He grabbed his knife and stabbed it multiple times into his back before he collapsed on the ground. 

“Thanks” Izzy nodded as Alec came to the ground in front of her. She shot someone in front of her.

Alec nodded, scanning the room quickly. He saw two Seelies moving Queen along the edge of the room towards a door. Alec raised his bow quickly and let a shot off, hitting one of the Seelies. Queen jumped to the side and the other Seelie with her continued ushering her towards the door.

“Jace!” Alec yelled, pointing across the room to where Alec had spotted Queen as he threw his knife to Jace, “go,” 

Catching the knife, Jace went running across the room, shooting down anyone in his way, which wasn’t that many. They had knocked out or killed a good proportion of their opponents, and the ones left weren’t focused on him. Queen only had one other Seelie with her as she tried to make her escape. 

They went through a door across the room and before they could get it bolted, Jace burst through into a narrow hallway. He took his gun out and shot at them, hoping to hit one or both of them. He hit Queen in the leg and she went falling to the ground. The other Seelie stopped and tried to help her up, but Jace shot him in the chest with his last bullet and he fell next to her. 

Jace threw his gun to the ground as he stalked over to her. She was trying her best to get up and walk away, but to no avail. She began dragging herself across the floor, knowing what was going to happen. Jace grabbed the back of her dress and flipped her over so she was facing him. 

“Please, don’t kill me,” she begged. 

“You know,” Jace began twirling it in his hands, “I might’ve considered that if you didn’t kill my fucking baby,” 

Meanwhile, after Alec watched Jace run off after Queen, he refocused on the few Seelies left surrounding them. Magnus watched his back as he shot arrows across the room at the few Seelies who were still trying to get Jonathan out. As he shot the last one over there, a bit of hope began fluttering in his heart. They might actually be able to do this. They might actually be able to get their children back. 

Alec turned around to help the others, but as he did, Izzy snapped the neck of the last guy they were fighting. Alec looked between his sister and his husband before they heard a door open across the room. All three of them turned and Alec raised his last arrow to shoot, but it was only Jace walking through the door. His hands were covered in blood and so was his knife. He met Alec’s eyes and nodded, telling him everything he needed to know. Then Jace’s attention turned to Magnus. He began quickly stalking across the room, making a b-line for his brother-in-law. 

“No!” Alec stepped between Jace and Magnus, a hand on Jace’s chest. Jace tried to push past him but Alec held him in place, “hit me all you want, but don’t you dare touch him,”

“Jace!” Clary looked at him, shocked. Alec didn’t know how to feel. She clearly hadn’t overheard what Jonathan had said. She didn’t know. 

Before Jace could do anything else, Izzy pulled him away from Alec, whispering to him softly. Magnus looked between Alec and Jace but Alec ignored his looks. 

“Now, let’s deal with this piece of shit,” Alec said, moving towards Jonathan, who was trying to drag himself out of the warehouse. Unlike Alec, Jonathan had not had enough adrenaline running through his system to keep him going when he got shot. Magnus and his siblings followed close behind him. Magnus went and put Jonathan in a headlock while Izzy and the others went to stand guard at the door. Alec knelt in front of him, a rage like he’d never felt before. 

“Alright, shithead, here’s how things are gonna go,” Alec began, taking out his knife, “we’re just gonna cut right to the chase here. You’re going to tell me where my kids are and I won’t hurt you. I’ll even let you live. But as time goes by, that is going to change,”

“I’m not gonna tell you anything,” Jonathan spat out. Alec laughed a little. 

“We’ll see about that,” Alec said, grabbing one of Jonathan’s hands. He took the knife and forced it under his fingernail. Jonathan bit the inside of his cheek but kept a straight face. 

“Alec!” Clary’s voice echoed through the warehouse but no one stopped him. 

“Sure you don’t want to tell me?” Alec asked, “we’ve got nine more nails and this is just the beginning,”

“Do your worst,” Jonathan growled. Alec nodded, removing the knife from where it was and shoving it under the next nail, twisting it. Jonathan’s breath caught but he still kept a straight face. 

“You can tell me at any time,” Alec said as he shoved the knife under his eighth nail. His hands were bleeding profusely and his face was red as he tried not to react. Magnus looked between Alec and Jonathan. He knew that Alec had tortured people before, he had told him about it after they’d gotten married. Alec’s past was dirty and bloody and Magnus was okay with that because his past was too. But that had taken a toll on Alec. They had a task to accomplish here, but he was scared for Alec. Scared Alec wouldn’t be able to come back from what he was about to do. 

“Did you ever think,” Jonathan let out a short breath before sucking another one in, “that I might be trying to save my own life here?”

Alec stopped and looked at him, removing the knife and pointing it at his face, letting his own blood drip down his chest, “you think I’m gonna kill you?” 

“Of course you’re gonna fucking kill me!” Jonathan spat back, “I kidnapped your goddamn kids!”

“Do you regret it?” Alec asked him, looking up at Magnus, who still had him in a headlock, “The Circle was never one to mess with kids. Do you regret it?” 

“Queen made me do it,” Jonathan insisted. 

“I know Queen made you do it,” Alec said, picking Jonathan’s hand up again and moving the knife back towards his nails, “but do you regret it?” 

“No,” Jonathan replied, “and I’m not gonna tell you where they are,” 

“You will,” Alec said, shoving the knife under his nail before quickly moving to the last one, popping it clean off his finger. That caused Jonathan to scream, the first reaction they’d gotten from him all night. 

“Alec, stop!” Simon said, but again, Alec didn’t look up at them. He just continued to stare down at Jonathan as he thought of new things he could do to him.

“We’ll come back to your hands later if you still don’t come to your senses,” Alec said, “I don’t really think you need your thumbs,”

“Alec…” Magnus’ voice was barely audible. That would cross a line, even for him. If Jonathan or Alec heard him, they ignored him. 

“Doesn’t matter cause you’re gonna kill me anyways,” Jonathan mumbled. 

“I’m not going to kill you,” Alec insisted. To this Magnus raised his eyebrows slightly but Alec ignored his look, going back to Jonathan, “we’re going to keep at this until you tell me where the kids are. Then Clary is going to keep you from dying until Jace and Izzy are going to dump you off in the nearest emergency room. Then, you’re going to live with whatever deformities I give you for the rest of your miserable life,” 

“Alec-” Izzy hissed. 

“So you were planning to kill me,” Jonathan looked over Magnus’ shoulder at Izzy and smiled. 

“Yes, we were planning to,” Alec replied, “but the plan has changed. I’ve decided that you’re going to live with whatever I do to you, if the Seelies don’t come for you first,” 

“The Seelies aren’t going to kill me,” Jonathan scoffed. 

“Maybe not, but they might be inclined to after your grand plan to get the shadowhunters back failed,” Alec replied, “so are we gonna keep going or not? I’m thinking the ears go next,” 

“Alec!” both Clary and Simon tried to get his attention, but to no avail. Jace was numb to what his brother was doing, numb to everything around him. Izzy just stared, unable to truly comprehend what her brother was doing. 

“Alec, no!” Magnus tried to protest but Alec ignored him, barely hearing him, only meeting Jonathan’s eye. There was a challenge in Jonathan’s eyes, like he didn’t think that Alec would do it. Alec leaned forward and grabbed Jonathan by the hair, pulling him from Magnus’ grip. Magnus tried to pull Jonathan back from Alec, trying to stop his husband, but it was clear that he was not present, mentally. His only focus was causing Jonathan pain and that focus was blinding him. Magnus didn’t even know if he was thinking about the kids anymore. 

Alec, still looking in Jonathan’s eyes, brought the knife to his ear. 

There was a slash, a scream, and blood was pouring from the side of Jonathan’s head. 

“Motherfucker!” Jonathan yelled, going to bring his hand up to the side of his head. 

“Do you wanna lose the other one?” Alec asked calmly, still holding him by the hair, “or do you wanna lose a thumb? I’ll let you chose,” 

“Alec, stop this, now!” Magnus moved so he was next to his husband but Alec just ignored him. 

“Oh god, Alec,” Simon grimaced. He had seen a lot in his days, but he’d never actually witness anyone torture someone like this.

Meanwhile, Jonathan stayed silent, Alec assumed it was more out of shock than anything. Had he been in any other situation, Alec would’ve been shocked with himself too. But Jonathan had kidnapped his children. They’d taken them from him. And for that, he deserved to be cut into pieces. 

“It’s your choice, but if you don’t choose, I will,” Alec said, letting go of his head and letting it hit the ground before grabbing his left hand. Jonathan yelped and tried to hide his thumb, but Alec grabbed it fast enough, squeezing the rest of his closed fist so his thumb was exposed. 

“Last chance to tell me,” Alec said, holding the knife to his thumb. Jonathan said nothing and Alec began to cut. 

“Alec, wait!” Magnus said, grabbing Alec’s shoulder. He didn’t move the knife, just turned and glared at his husband. 

“What?!” Alec yelled. 

“This isn’t you, Alec,” Magnus said. 

“Jonathan, please talk” Izzy began, taking a few steps away from the door, “if you think the Seelies are going to protect you-” 

“Izzy!” Alec cut her off, “stop it, now,”

Before anyone could say anything else, he dug the knife further into Jonathan’s hand. The man screamed and Alec made the rest of the cut before standing and pointing the knife at Izzy. 

“You better not fucking stop me,” Alec said, backing Izzy away, “he’s gonna tell me or I’m going to carve him to fucking pieces!” 

Izzy walked around him, passing Magnus on her way. He had fallen back on the ground when Alec had stood, staring at his husband in shock, still unable to process what he’d done. Alec briefly looked up at his family and the shocked and horrified expressions on Simon and Clary’s faces. Jace’s face was just blank, and that was the only thing he truly saw. Izzy stopped beside Alec and looked Jonathan dead in the eye before she spoke. 

“Queen isn’t going to protect you, Jonathan,” Izzy said, “she’s dead,”

“What?” Jonathan’s voice sounded almost broken, if Alec assumed he was capable of that. He stood, staring at the ground between Jonathan’s legs, just listening to his sister speak. 

“I killed her,” Jace said from behind him, “so if you think you’re safe from the Seelies, you’re wrong,”

“Then just fucking kill me,” Jonathan said, resigned, “what you’re doing is humane compared to what they will do,” 

“Tell us where the kids are,” Izzy pleaded, “and we’ll protect you,”

“How can you protect me?” Jonathan laughed, “you? You people can’t even protect your own damn children!” 

Alec screamed and turned back to Jonathan before kneeling back down next to him and stabbing the knife into his eye, twisting it as he did. 

“Alec!” Magnus yelled, clearly appalled with his husband’s actions. He grabbed Alec by the arms and pulled him away from Jonathan. 

“Fucking! Let go of me! Magnus!” Alec yelled, trying to pull out of Magnus’ grip. Izzy crouched in front of Jonathan, taking care to leave the knife in his eye, knowing removing it would only cause him to bleed more. 

“We’ll get you healed up. Then we’ll get you set up outside of New York” Izzy said, “we promise,”

“I’m a cop,” Simon said, hoping this would stop Alec, “he’s got resources. We can keep you safe, just tell us where the kids are,”

“And if we get your ear and your thumb on ice we might be able to reattach them,” Clary joined him, “please, just tell us!”

“If you don’t tell us, we’ll tell Magnus to let him go,” Jace said from behind him as he looked over at Alec and Magnus. Everyone looked at Jace with wide eyes, wondering why he would even consider letting Alec loose on Jonathan again. 

Jonathan looked between the two groups of people but screamed as he moved his eyes. 

“They’re in this building,” Jonathan said softly, staring squarely at the ceiling before lifting his hand and pointing, “go through the door over there. Last door on the right there’s a staircase. The keys are in the second to last stair. You’ll find them there,”

“If you’re lying to us, regardless of whether or not you tell us, we won’t protect you,” Izzy said. 

“I’m not lying,” Jonathan coughed, a bit of blood coming up with it, “they’re here,” 

“AAAH!” Alec yelled as he had broken away from Magnus. He tackled Izzy away from Jonathan. 

“Get off me!” Izzy yelled. 

“Alec!” Simon yelled. Before he could move to pull Alec and Izzy apart, Jace ran and pulled Alec off Izzy and the two rolled around on the floor with Alec clawing at Jace and Jace trying to get him off. Simon helped Izzy off the floor as they continued to roll. When they stopped rolling, Alec was sitting on top of Jace and Alec was quick to bring his fist to Jace’s face. Jace’s head slammed back, caught off guard before he began blocking every one of Alec’s punches. 

“How! Dare! You!” Alec said, trying to hit him after every word. 

“Alec!” Izzy yelled, trying to get his attention. 

“How dare me!?” Jace yelled, pushing Alec off him and to the ground before standing, “you got my fucking child killed!” 

“What?!” Clary’s voice echoed through the warehouse but neither Alec nor Jace heard her. 

Jace went running at Alec. Alec was quick to stand, their bodies slammed into each other and they wrestled, trying to get the upper hand with each other. 

“ALEC!” Izzy yelled again, “STOP IT! BOTH OF YOU!” 

“You wanna be next?!” Alec yelled. 

“Oh you did NOT just go there!” Izzy yelled before stalking over to her brothers. She kicked the back of Alec’s knee and he fell to the ground, his face hitting Jace’s knee on the way down. Izzy walked in front of him and grabbed him by the hair, pulling his head up to look at her. 

“Fucking snap out of it!” she yelled, slapping him across his bruised cheek. He blinked lazily as his nose began to bleed from his hit on Jace’s knee. 

“Jonathan needs to pay!” Alec yelled, “and we need to find the kids!

“We found the fucking kids!” Izzy yelled back, “and if you weren’t so fucking blinded by rage, you would’ve heard Jonathan say that!” 

“What?” Magnus looked up and hurried over to her. 

“What?” There was a small smile on Alec’s face. 

“Where are they?!” Magnus asked urgently.

“They’re here,” Izzy said, “Down the hall, last door on the right. Go down the stairs. Keys are in the second to last stair,”

Alec looked at Magnus before he broke out of Izzy’s grip and ran towards the hallway, not caring about the pain in his leg. Izzy and Jace stood near Jonathan, waiting to make sure he wasn’t lying. 

“Jace, what were you talking about just now?” Clary asked as she watched Alec and Magnus go tearing across the warehouse. 

They burst through the door into the hallway and nearly tripped over the bodies that were still there. Alec nearly fell clean on his face while trying to get down the stairs. When they made it down, Alec turned back around and tried to lift the stair to get inside it. He and Magnus both grabbed it and tried to pull, but it didn’t budge. 

“Stand back,” Magnus said, taking out his gun and shooting at the wooden stair. Once there were a few holes in the hollow stair, Alec went over and stomped on it with his good leg until it broke through completely. Alec searched through the rubble, not caring about the splinters he was getting in his hands. He found a keyring with three keys on it and quickly turned towards the door. He tried to force the first key he grabbed into the lock but it didn’t fit. His hands shook as he tried the second, which went into the lock cleanly and he quickly turned the handle and threw the door open. 

“OH MY GOD!” 

“BOYS!” 

Alec and Magnus both practically fell into the small room in front of them where their boys were laying down on the floor. Their ankles were chained to the ground and Rafael held Max tight, as if trying to protect him. The room was dark and small and smelled absolutely atrocious. 

The boys roused from their sleep at the noise and looked up to see their parents crashing into the room. 

“DADDY! PAPA!” Max yelled when they entered the room. 

Max and Rafe got up and ran as best they could into their parents arms. Alec held Max as tightly to his chest as he could without hurting him, and Magnus did the same with Rafe. Tears spilled from Alec’s eyes and he heard Magnus sob as he held them close. Alec scooted a little closer to his husband as he felt Max’s small body crying in his arms. He pulled Magnus and Rafe towards him and Magnus wrapped his arms around him, holding the boys between them. 

The boys cried as their parents held them tightly. They hadn’t felt safe for even a second over the past week, but now they had never felt safer in their entire lives. 

“Daddy’s so sorry, boys,” Alec said, still holding Max to his chest with one arm and had Magnus and Rafe in his other. Tears were still running down his face. 

“Daddy’s so sorry,” Alec whispered. 

“Can we go home, daddy?” Max asked him. 

“Yes, blueberry, of course we can go home,” Alec said, placing a kiss on his cheek before going reaching his arm out and wiggling the keys out of the door. 

“Daddy’s gonna get these off your feet, okay?” Alec asked, moving Max was slightly out of his arms but still tightly in his grip. He reached down and unlocked the chains off his ankles before moving to look at Rafe. 

“Hey Rafe,” Alec smiled, “I’m gonna get these off, okay?” 

Rafe only nodded, burying his head in Magnus’ shoulder as Alec unlocked his ankles. Max clung tightly to Alec as Rafe did to Magnus when they both stood up. Alec reached out and took Magnus’ hands as they exited the room and walked up the stairs, taking care to step over the stair they had destroyed. 

“Aunt Izzy!” Max called when they reentered the main room. Izzy smiled and waved at both of them, who were blocking the boys from seeing Jonathan’s body on the floor. Simon was on the floor next to Jonathan, currently trying to keep him from bleeding out but Jace and Clary were nowhere to be found. 

“Is he still…?” Alec trailed off as he approached his siblings. 

“Yes,” Izzy said. 

“Okay, Maxie, go out with your Papa,” Alec said, going to hand Max off to Magnus.

“Alexander…” Magnus began, “no,”

“Let me finish this,” Alec said firmly, again trying to hand Max off to Magnus. 

“Please, just let it go,” Magnus begged. 

“I can’t,” Alec said softly, “I won’t be able to sleep if I do,”

Magnus and Izzy exchanged a glance before Magnus conceded. 

“Fine,” Magnus sighed, taking Max from Alec’s arms. He grunted as he held both the boys but there was no way he was going to put either of them down anytime soon. 

“No! Daddy come with us!” Max protested, clinging to Alec’s coat as tears began gathering in his eyes. 

“Daddy will be right there blueberry, I promise,” Alec said, kissing his little hand as he pulled it away, “I’ll see you in the car before you know it,” 

Max nodded and Magnus carried both the boys off. Rafe’s head was hanging over Magnus’s shoulder and he definitely saw Jonathan lying on the floor, but Alec wasn’t overly focused on that right now.

“Alec,” Izzy began. 

“Go with him,” Alec instructed as he walked to stand over Jonathan. 

“No,” Izzy said. 

“Go with him or I will make you,” Alec growled. 

Izzy sighed, “if you’re not out in 5 minutes we’re coming back in,”

“Fine,” Alec replied. Izzy walked past Jonathan’s body and Simon followed her silently. Once they were out Alec bent down next to him, his hand playing with the knife still in his eye. 

“Your sister-in-law is going to kill you,” Jonathan smiled, grimacing in pain as the knife moved, almost numb to it now, “your sister had to restrain her to stop her from coming down and attacking you,”

“What I did to you isn’t just for my kids,” Alec said softly, pulling the knife from his eye, causing him to yell in pain, “I did it for their kid too,”

“You’re going to kill me, aren’t you?” Jonathan asked. 

“Oh yes,” Alec answered, “and lucky for you, because of Izzy, it’s going to be quick. If it were up to me we’d be here for hours and you’d be begging me for death,” 

“You know, we’re not that different, you and I,” Jonathan said, “I always thought that,”

“We are nothing alike,” Alec replied quickly, “mainly because I don’t kidnap fucking children,”

“Oh, but you’re ruthless,” Jonathan smiled, blood covering his teeth, “heartless. You’re enjoying this,”

“Only because it’s revenge,” Alec insisted, he ran the knife over Jonathan’s neck, cleaning off the blood and letting it cut his face a little as he went. He ran it through his hair lightly before lifting it and stabbing it up into his heart, and he was dead in an instant. 

“Goodbye, Jonathan,” Alec smiled at him before standing, leaving him lying on the floor with a knife lodging in his chest. 

***

“Daddy!” Max called out when Alec exited the warehouse. 

“Hey blueberry,” Alec smiled, taking Max from Magnus’ arm and he clung to him tight. Rafe reached out for him too and Alec couldn’t be happier to have both his sons back in his arms. He took a minute just to hold them and relish in this moment he never thought he’d have again. Magnus wrapped himself up in their hug as well, holding his family close.

“I’m gonna drive you guys home,” Izzy said as she walked away from Jace, who was standing outside the other car. 

“Where’s he going?” Magnus asked, referring to Jace who was walking towards the other car. 

“And where’s Clary?” Alec asked hesitantly. 

“Clary and Simon are already in the other car,” Izzy explained, “they’re going to drop Simon off at our house then they’re going home,”

“Why not just take Simon with you?” Alec asked. 

“Clary needed him,” Izzy said, “Jace told her and she did not take it well,” 

“I didn’t expect she would,” Alec sighed, burying his head in Magnus’ shoulder as Magnus held him close. 

“Are you going to be able to drive with your hand?” Alec asked, taking a deep breath in and pushing down his tear. 

“I’ll be fine,” she insisted, “get in,” 

Alec nodded, helping his boys into Magnus’ car. Alec sat between his boys, letting them each hold one of their hands as they rode back in silence. 

Alec met Magnus’ eyes in the rearview mirror more than once throughout their drive. He was unable to read his expression and that scared him. It was taking everything in him not to burst into tears right then and there. He was back with his family and they were all together and safe. He let a few tears slip out and run down his face. 

He had given his boys a quick glance over and it didn’t seem as if they had any physical injuries besides some irritation around their ankles from where the chains had been. He didn’t even want to begin to think about the psychological damage. What scared him most was Rafael hadn’t said a word to them. The last time he’d gone this long without speaking was when they’d first brought him home and he was terrified of them. 

But he couldn’t stop lingering on the expression on Magnus’ face, it scared him most. The gravity of what he had done to Jonathan hadn’t quite hit him yet, but he had a feeling it had hit Magnus. Alec honestly couldn’t remember all of what he did, but he was hoping he wasn’t about to lose Magnus because of it. He had just gotten his family back, he couldn’t lose them again. 

Izzy dropped her brother and his family off at their building, taking their car so she wouldn’t have to take the train this late at night, promising to bring it back the next day. She found a spot around the block from her apartment and grabbed the file before making her way quietly into the apartment, hoping that Simon wasn’t home yet so she could hide the file. He was in the shower when she returned. She put the file in her bedside drawer before changing, placing her clothes in a bag to be disposed of soon. She rinsed off her makeup before joining her fiance in the shower, just happy to have him back with her. 

***

Alec had expected someone to be waiting for them in their apartment when they arrived as Magnus had said he’d left unconscious Seelies inside when he’d run. He had left Magnus and the boys outside while he searched the loft. It was completely empty and there was hardly any sign that a fight had taken place. He made sure all the windows as well as the balcony door were firmly locked before going back to join his family. 

“Do you boys want a bath?” Magnus asked when Alec returned. 

“Yes please,” Max said softly. Rafe only nodded. 

“You can get a bath in daddy and papa’s big bathtub,” Alec smiled at them, hoping to get them excited about something. All they did was nod before Magnus picked up Max and Alec picked up Rafe and they made their way to the master bathroom. Alec placed Rafe down before going to turn on the water, warming it but not so much that it would hurt them. Then he felt a tug on his pant leg. 

“What is it, Rafe?” Alec asked. All Rafe did was point at the wound on Alec’s leg, which was bleeding through the bandage. 

“Oh, that’s just a small booboo,” Alec smiled, “I’ll be okay,”

Rafe only nodded. 

“Can we have bath toys, papa?” Max asked. 

“Of course, blueberry,” Magnus smiled, “lets go get them from your bathroom,”

“Do you want to go with them, Rafe?” Alec asked. Rafe shook his head. Alec and Magnus shared a look before Magnus and Max left the bathroom. Alec put the stopper in the tub and let it begin to fill out before he turned back to Rafe. 

“Let’s get you undressed, kiddo,” Alec said, and Rafe only raised his hands over his head. Alec removed his dirty pajama shirt and threw it in the sink, intending to dispose of these pajamas along with his tux. 

“Daddy,” Rafe said, looking at him as Alec helped his pants down over his bare feet. 

“What is it?” Alec asked, taking care to not make a big deal over the fact that he had talked. They’d done that the first time he ever spoke to them and he had clammed up for a week after. 

“Did you kill that man?” Rafe asked, his eyes wide and curious. 

“What man?” Alec asked, hoping he wouldn’t have to answer that question. He hated lying to his kids, and he certainly wasn’t going to lie to Rafe about something like this. 

“The bad man,” Rafesaid, “the one who said you weren’t coming,” 

At those words, Alec wanted to kill Jonathan all over again. If he had told Max and Rafe that Alec and Magnus weren’t coming to get them he didn’t want to think what else he had said to them. 

“He won’t bother us anymore, I promise,” Alec explained, “and I want you to understand that your papa and I were always going to come and get you, no matter what. Your papa and I are always going to protect you. I’m just so sorry we weren’t able to stop this from happening in the first place,”

Rafe nodded before taking off his own underwear and climbing into the almost full tub just as Magnus and Max returned carrying a pile of toys. They placed them down on the tub ledge before helping Max out of his dirty pajamas. Alec picked him up and placed him in the tub next to his brother. 

“I’m gonna go change,” Alec said, grabbing the boys’ discarded clothes and moving into the bedroom while Magnus moved to the tub. He shed himself of all his clothes, including his underwear and placed them all in a bag with the pajamas. Izzy was taking care of the clothes so they wouldn’t ever have to see them again. He pulled on a pair of fresh underwear before sitting on the bed and looking at the bandage on his leg. He peeled a bit of the tape back, looking to see if he reopened it at some point. It looked like he had partially, but it had stopped bleeding. Regardless, he knew he’d need to change the bandage covering it. 

He pulled on a pair of clean sweatpants before making his way towards the boys’ rooms, pulling a fresh pair of pajamas out for each of them. When he returned to the bathroom, he found Magnus washing Max’s hair as Rafe was rinsing the shampoo out of his own. Alec went and knelt down behind Rafe and helped him rinse out his hair. 

“We need to talk,” Magnus said when he knelt beside him. 

“I know,” Alec replied, dreading what this conversation would bring. He knew they needed to talk about what he’d just done. Though he hadn’t been thinking clearly and he couldn’t remember all of what he did, he knew it was bad. 

They finished cleaning the boys and dried them off. It was unspoken between all of them that the boys would be sleeping in their bed for the foreseeable future. They all got in their pajamas before climbing into bed together. They waited for the boys to drift off, which didn’t take long, before Alec got up and went to the bathroom. He wiped the blood off his face and replaced the bandage on his leg. As he reentered their bedroom, Magnus began climbing out of bed and pointed towards the door. Alec nodded and followed him out, leaving the door open a crack behind them in case either of the boys woke up. 

“Alec…” Magnus took a deep breath in, “why did you do that?” 

“I don’t know,” Alec shook his head, “I was blinded by...by rage. I needed to protect you guys,”

“But did you need to torture him like that?” Magnus asked, tears welling in his eyes, “I know you’ve done it in the past but-”

“I’m sorry,” Alec said softly, running his hand through Magnus’ hair, “I did it to protect you,” 

“I need you, Alexander,” Magnus cried softly, “I don’t want you to lose yourself to those actions,”

“And you have me, I’m right here,” Alec assured him, hugging him even tighter, “I’m here. The boys are here. We’re all here,” 

Alec didn’t know if he said that more for Magnus or himself. And that was true. He was slowly coming back to himself, mentally. And they were all back together physically as well. This past week had been the longest of his life and he had figured he’d seen the last of his family and the next time he’d see them they’d all be old and grey and he’d be greeting them from the afterlife. Yet here they all were. Together. 

“I think we should get out of the city,” Alec said softly. 

“Why?” Magnus asked, looking up at him. 

“It’s the only way to truly escape my past,” Alec replied, “it’s the only way I can keep you guys safe,” 

“Where would we go?” Magnus asked. 

“I don’t know,” Alec replied, “somewhere out in the country. Somewhere we could have a house, maybe get a dog. Have a proper family without having to look over our shoulders for the rest of our lives,” 

“What about your siblings?” Magnus asked.

“We talked about it,” Alec sighed, “Jace and Clary are happy where they are. Or, they were three days ago. Izzy said she wouldn’t be opposed. It wouldn’t be difficult for either of them to find work, not that they need it,” 

“So we all move out to the country somewhere?” Magnus asked. 

“Yeah,” Alec replied, “we get the boys in private school. We all go see a therapist. If you want to, you set up another studio, I can set up a range. We can have a normal life together. That’s all I want,” 

“I want that too,” Magnus sighed, “can we have it though?” 

“We can,” Alec replied, “Jonathan is dead and so are Queen and Valentine. The odds of anyone hunting us down are slim to none if we leave the city, especially if we do so without a trace left behind,” 

“How do you think the boys will feel about that?” Magnus asked. 

“I think Rafe would be plenty happy to get out of the city,” Alec told him, “between living on the streets of Buenos Aires and what just happened here in New York he’s had plenty of bad experiences in cities,” 

“True,” Magnus thought, “and Max is happy wherever he is,” 

“Yeah,” Alec replied before exhaling, “are you okay?” 

“I don’t know,” Magnus sighed, “I don't know how to feel about what you did, but at the same time I know I’m happy you’re alive. I’m happy the boys are back and we’re all back together but I’m scared about what happened to them. I’m scared of what the long lasting effects of this are going to be, I mean, Rafe hasn’t spoken since we got him,”

“He spoke to me,” Alec said.

“What did he say?” Magnus asked. 

“He asked me if I killed Jonathan,” Alec exhaled. 

“What did you tell him?”

“I told him he never had to worry about Jonathan ever again,”

“I’m sure he drew his own conclusion,” Magnus said. 

“I’m sure he did,” Alec agreed, “but he also mentioned that Jonathan told the boys we weren’t coming for him,” 

“Dear god,” Magnus groaned. He paused before he spoke again, “how did you kill him?”

“Stabbed him in the heart,” Alec replied. 

“Jesus, Alexander,” Magnus shut his own eyes, not wanting to imagine that, “do you want to talk about that a little more?”

“He kidnapped our children, Magnus,” Alec said firmly, “he kidnapped our children, his father killed my brother and my mother. The Circle ruined my life,” 

“Is your life ruined now?” Magnus asked. 

“No, and that’s because of you,” Alec said, “but before that my life was going one way and the Circle ensured it went another. This was just the bill coming due,” 

“Are you going to be okay with what you did?” Magnus asked. 

“Are you okay with what I did?” Alec countered. 

“I...I don’t know,” Magnus sighed.

“I understand,” Alec nodded, “I honestly don’t remember all of what I did...”

“Maybe that’s a good thing,” Magnus said, so softly Alec almost didn’t hear him. At that comment, he didn’t even want to think about the details of what he did. 

“Let’s go to bed,” Alec said, going to tug Magnus back towards their bedroom but he stood still, “unless there’s something else you need to say?” 

“Are we going to be okay, Alexander?” Magnus asked softly, walking towards the balcony door but not daring to unlock them, “all of us? Our family. Will we be okay?”

“Eventually,” Alec replied, coming up behind him and wrapping his arms around his waist, “we’re going to need time and intense therapy but we’re together. We’re going to be okay as long as we’re together,” 

“You sure?” Magnus asked, spinning in his arms so he was facing him. 

“I promise,” Alec assured him. Magnus nodded before pressing a soft kiss to Alec’s lips. He melted into it, wrapping his arms tighter around his husband and pulling him as close as he could. Magnus wrapped his arms around his neck and they held each other, lazily kissing in the living room.

“Daddy! Papa!” 

Alec and Magnus broke apart when they heard Max calling from their bedroom. They looked at each other before they went running back into the bedroom. 

“We’re here, blueberry,” Alec assured him as they came into the room. Him and Rafe were huddled together in the middle of the bed, both with wide eyes. 

“Daddy and I were just talking, we didn’t want to wake you up,” Magnus assured them, climbing onto his side of the bed next to Rafe, who immediately crawled into his father’s arms. 

“I had a bad dream, daddy,” Max said softly as Alec climbed into bed. 

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Alec asked him as he climbed into Alec’s lap. 

“I was back in that place,” Max said, tears welling in his eyes, “but I was alone. Rafa wasn’t there,” 

“Well, it was just a dream, Maxie,” Alec assured him, “you’re never going back there ever again. I promise,”

“You pinky promise?” Max asked, raising his pinky. 

“I pinky promise,” Alec smiled, sticking out his pinky to his son, who looped their fingers together, “let’s go to sleep,”

“Good idea,” Max said, not moving from Alec lap. Alec smiled as he laid down with Max on his chest and he pulled the blankets back up over the four of them. Alec kept one hand securely on Max’s back and reached the other across the bed to Magnus, whose arm was wrapped around Rafe. Magnus scooted them both a little closer so Rafe was sandwiched between them and Alec had his arm wrapped around Magnus as well. Alec slowly carted his fingers through Magnus’ hair and they laid there as a family, back together at last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I could've just ended the story here but NOPE we've got one more loose end to tie up! Any ideas on what it is?  
> And the kids are back yay! They're safe and back with their parents, though that was never going to not happen. Take comfort in the fact that their family was always going to be reunited, regardless of what happened. I'm not that cruel.  
> Also, plot twist, who? I was proud of that plot twist there. One of my better ones, in my opinion.  
> I went back and forth on whether or not to include that torture scene but I think it was really important to show just how emotionally broken and scarred Alec is between what's happened to him in the past and what's happening to him now and how he just isn't going to let it happen again. Because I hadn't utilized violence like this too often, apart from when Alec was tortured in Steal My Heart I felt like using violence really increased the emotional impact that this chapter has.  
> Anyways, let me know what you think in the comments, I'd love to have a little chat on your take on everything that happened if you have any thoughts. Thank you so much for reading and see you next week! The rest of the story, while darker than the earlier chapters, is not going to be as dark as this chapter.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Lightwoods aren't out of the woods yet...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is essentially set up for the next chapter  
> Warning: implied sexual assault

“Magnus, are you awake?” Alec asked softly. It was late and a few days had passed since the job. They were lying in bed with their sons between them, both fast asleep, but Alec hadn’t been able to fall asleep, there was too much on his mind. 

“Yeah,” Magnus' voice traveled softly across their bedroom, not wanting to wake their kids. 

“Can we talk?” Alec asked. Magnus nodded, slowly crawling out of bed, careful not to disturb Max and Rafe. Alec followed suit, grabbing the cane he was using to help him walk on his injured leg as he followed Magnus out of the bedroom. They left the bedroom door open before walking across the hall into Rafe’s room. After their conversation the first night, they had found it best if they talk across the hall instead of in the living room. 

“What’s on your mind, darling?” Magnus asked once Alec was sitting on Rafe’s bed. 

“Why are you upset about what I did to Jonathan?” Alec asked. 

“What?” Magnus looked at him, confused. 

“When I...tortured Jonathan the other day,” Alec replied, “you were pretty upset about it and I just want to know why. Don’t you think he deserved it?” 

“Of course I think he deserved it!” Magnus shot back, almost defensively. 

“Babe, I’m not, accusing you of anything,” Alec said quickly, noticing his defensive tone, “I’m just...it’s been bothering me...maybe I’m not saying this right,”

“It’s okay, Alexander,” Magnus said, sitting beside him, “take your time,” 

“Wouldn’t you have done the same!?” Alec asked, “why did you hold me back? It makes me feel like I shouldn’t have done what I did,” 

“I held you back for your sake,” Magnus replied. 

“What?” it was Alec’s turn to be confused. 

“Not long after we met, you tortured someone who broke into Jace’s store, but you wouldn’t let me come with you,” Magnus explained, “you didn’t tell me about it until after we were married. You told me about all the...horrible things the Circle made you do and how much of a toll those things took on you,”

“That was senseless, this was my children!” Alec insisted, “there was nothing to save me from!”

“Maybe it wasn’t the right thing to do,” Magnus shook his head, “but I remember how you would get whenever you would talk about it and I just didn’t...I didn’t want to see you like that again,” 

“How were you even thinking about that when we were there!?” Alec asked, “all of you guys! You, Jace and Clary, Izzy and Simon, you all wanted me to stop! He kidnapped our children! Why did you fucking stop me!?”

“Because I was terrified!” Magnus shot back, stopping Alec in his tracks. 

“What?” Alec’s voice was soft, almost hurt, “how could you...do you think I’d do that to you?”

“No!” Magnus said quickly, “I guess...I don’t know. I’d never seen it before and I guess there was a small part of me that didn’t think you were capable of that,” 

“I’d never tortured anyone like that,” Alec said softly, staring at the floor in front of them, “Izzy, Jace, and I would all do it together. It would be mostly psychological and by the time we’d get to the physical stuff it wouldn’t take that long to get them to spill,”

“Alexander-”

“I’ve never felt like that when torturing someone,” Alec ignored him, “I’ve never...enjoyed it,” 

They both sat, the silence ever present between them. Usually, silence between them was easy, never this tense. There was never this much unsaid in the air between them. 

“I understand why you were scared,” Alec replied, still not looking at him, “I’m a monster,”

“No, you’re not, Alexander,” Magnus said, tilting his chin up so Alec was facing him. He brought his hands to his face, wiping the tears that had gathered in Alec’s eyes. 

“I support what you did. I understand why you did it, I’m honestly surprised I didn’t,” Magnus shook his head, “and I was on board. As you went on though, I don’t know why I was suddenly so scared. There’s a difference between, I don’t know, giving someone a few cuts and literally cutting parts of their body off,”

“I know,” Alec nodded, pulling away, “and I’m sorry,”

“Please, don’t be sorry,” Magnus said, taking his face in his hands again, pressing a light kiss to his lips, “Jonathan deserved everything that you did to him. Me being a little scared doesn’t change that,” 

“You’ve been...different the past few days,” Alec commented, “I’ve just felt...it’s been because of what I did,”

“We’ve been through a lot this past week,” Magnus sighed, “there was a small part of me that was...I don’t want to say hesitant around you...but...almost weary, maybe shock is the right word? I’m sorry, I should’ve just talked to you outright,”

“We’re talking about it now, that’s what matters,” Alec stated, “I’m sorry I scared you,”

“It’s okay,” Magnus nodded, “had I been less scared...I wouldn’t have stopped you, I would’ve fought your siblings to let you continue. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Jonathan deserved everything you did to him,”

“I know,” Alec nodded, reaching out for the first time during their conversation and running a hand down Magnus’ arm, “thank you,”

“You’re welcome,” Magnus said, kissing him again, “I love you, darling, don’t you ever forget that,”

Alec smiled, “I love you too, Magnus,”

***

The next day, Alec was startled by an incessant knocking on their door. 

“I’m coming!” Alec called as limped out of Rafe’s bedroom, where he was sitting with his family as they played a board game and watched TV. They didn’t leave the apartment, not that any of them wanted to, and just spent time together with Alec and Magnus never leaving their children alone. When he arrived at the door, Alec peered through the peephole and saw his sister standing outside the door. He undid both locks on the door before letting her in. 

“It’s good to see you, Alec,” Izzy smiled as she entered the apartment, giving her brother a quick hug. There was a cast on her wrist and bandages over her cuts. 

“Good to see you too,” Alec replied, shutting the door and locking it, “how are you?”

“I’m alright,” she replied, “how’s your face?” 

“Eh, it’s alright,” Alec brushed his knuckle over his bruised cheek, “this still hurts but my nose isn’t broken,”

“How’s your leg?” she followed up, glancing down at his cane. 

“It’s been better, but it’s also been worse,” Alec laughed, leaning on the cane, “it hurts like a bitch but I haven’t managed to reopen it,”

“That’s good,” Izzy smiled, “how are you all doing?”

“I’m fine and so is Magnus. We’ve talked through a lot of it. We’re alright,” Alec told her. 

“How are the boys?” Izzy asked hesitantly. 

“Not good,” Alec said softly, “we can barely leave them alone. They sleep in our bed. Rafe has spoken once since we got back. Max isn’t nearly as chatty. He’s been having nightmares, they both have. They are eating and sleeping though, which is more than I was doing after I came back from Asmodeus,” 

“Are you going to start them in therapy?” Izzy asked. 

“Absolutely,” Alec replied, “but, um, I was gonna talk to both you and Jace about this, but, we’re getting out of the city. Soon. We don’t want to start them talking to someone here just to leave in two weeks,”

“Oh, you mean that soon?” Izzy asked, surprised. 

“Yeah,” Alec nodded, “Magnus and I talked about it. We talked to the boys. They seemed a little excited to get out of the city. Max even smiled a bit at the thought of living ‘in a park’ as he put it,”

“I see,” Izzy thought for a moment, “might not be a bad idea, considering Meliorn is still out there,”

“Yeah,” Alec agreed. News broke pretty quickly that Queen had died and there was a little bit about Meliorn being stabbed. They hadn’t heard much about an investigation, and they figured the Seelies were responsible for that. An investigation done by the wrong cops or with the wrong reporters following it could unveil all the Seelie gang activity. Alec was still scared about the Seelies coming for them themselves, because Meliorn knew it was Alec who stabbed him and he could probably easily surmise that they were responsible for Queen’s death as well. 

“Have you spoken to Jace?” Alec asked tentatively. 

“Yeah, I was just over at their place getting his clothes,” Izzy replied, “have you?”

“Technically, no,” Alec sighed, “I called him and left a message the day after we got back. I told him that I wasn’t going to bother him if he didn’t want me to but if he ever wanted to talk I would happily listen,”

“Did he call you back?” Izzy asked. 

“No,” Alec shook his head, “but I also told him if he ever needed anything, even if we weren’t speaking, he could ask me and I’d be there in an instant,”

“Of course you would,” Izzy smiled, shaking her head slightly. 

“How are they?” Alec asked hesitantly. 

“They’re as good as they can be,” Izzy said, “Clary isn’t doing too well, between losing the baby and being ambushed in the house again. They mentioned they’re talking about getting out of that house,”

“Are they gonna leave the city too?” Alec asked. 

“They’re not in the city now,” Izzy replied. 

“They live right outside the city. Are they going to leave New York?” Alec rolled his eyes, “do you know where they want to go?”

“I don’t,” Izzy said, “maybe I’ll mention that leaving New York might be a good idea,” 

“There’s my little sister,” Alec smiled. 

“Anyway,” Izzy said, “I have stuff to do. Get the bag of clothes,”

“Yes,” Alec nodded and turned, limping towards their bedroom. He grabbed the bag with his bloody tux and the boy’s dirty pajamas. He reentered the living room and handed the bag off to Izzy. 

“Stay in touch,” Izzy said as she went to leave. 

“I will,” Alec replied, “tell Jace-”

“Anything you want to say to Jace, you have to say yourself,” Izzy turned back to him. 

“Well he’s not currently taking my calls,” Alec sighed. 

“Well, I guess you’re just gonna have to keep reaching out to him until he does,” Izzy replied before she turned and left the apartment. 

***

On her way back to her and Simon’s apartment, Izzy stopped at three different alleyway dumpsters, dropping off one bag in each dumpster. Usually, they wouldn’t be nearly this paranoid, but they were dealing with the Seelies. She was dealing with Meliorn now. She wasn't taking any chances. 

After talking with both Alec and Jace, she now figured there was some validity to the idea of getting out of the city. Had they left the city after they got the Circle to leave them alone, they might not be in this situation now. Especially given her history with Meliorn, she probably needed to get out of the city more than either of her brothers did. 

She picked up some lunch for her and Simon on her way back. The wind blew strong around her as she made her way back into the building, storm clouds rolling in around her. She quickened her step as it began to rain and she made it into the building rather dry. 

She stopped dead in her tracks when she walked into her apartment and saw the living room trashed. She put the food down on the floor and opened a decorative box by the front door where Simon kept his gun. She pulled it out before she slowly made their way towards their bedroom where she nearly dropped the gun. 

“Hey sweetie,” Meliorn smiled, sitting on her bed next to Simon, who had a bomb strapped to his chest. 

“What the hell are you doing here, Meliorn?” Izzy asked, pointing the gun at him, “let him go,” 

“I’m here to see you, baby doll,” Meliorn smiled as he stood and walked over to her, making Izzy take an instinctive step back and point the gun square at his chest. She noticed him moving a bit cautiously, most likely coming from where Alec stabbed him. Izzy kept her gun trained on him as he approached her. 

“Ah ah ah,” he chastised, flashing the detonator in his hand. 

“What do you want?” Izzy asked, only lowering the gun a little. 

“You,” he smiled. 

“No!” Simon called from behind them. 

“Shut up!” Meliorn held up his detonator with his thumb just above the trigger. 

“NO!” Izzy ran at Meliorn and grabbed his wrist, “I’ll go with you. Just disarm the bomb,”

“Isabelle, are you crazy?!” Simon called, “who even is this guy?!”

“Shut up!” Izzy hissed. 

“You think I’m stupid enough to disarm the bomb here?” Meliorn asked her. 

“I’m not going with you unless you disarm it,” Izzy insisted. 

“I will disarm it when we get to our destination,” Meliorn replied. 

“How will I know you disarmed it?” Izzy asked. 

Meliorn only raised an eyebrow, “really? Do you need to ask me? I'm sure you looked through what you took from my office,” 

“Izzy, what is he talking about?!” Simon asked.

“Shut up!” Izzy and Meliorn said in unison, Meliorn holding up the detonator and Izzy just desperately trying to stop him from getting himself blown up. 

“Aww, look at us,” Meliorn smiled at her, “but I’ll prove I disarmed it. I’m sure you know how,”

Izzy kept a straight face. She knew exactly what he was talking about. When Simon was at work yesterday she had looked through the file she had in her nightstand drawer. There was no doubt in her mind their apartment was bugged from the information she saw inside. She had planned to take care of that the next time Simon was at work, which would’ve been tomorrow, but that didn’t look like it was going to happen now. 

“Have I ever lied to you?” Meliorn asked. 

“Yes, yes you have,” Izzy said bluntly.

“Have you forgotten my last name, Isabelle?” Meliorn asked, a threatening undertone to his voice. 

“No I haven’t, but I also haven’t forgotten what you did to me,” Izzy shot back. 

“I swear on Queen’s grave I will disarm that bomb,” Meliorn said, “I really don’t want to have to hurt either of you,”

“Alright,” Izzy conceded, knowing how close Queen and Meliorn were, and knowing how much her death must have hurt him, and how him swearing on her grave would ensure he was telling the truth, “let’s go,” 

“Izzy!” Simon yelled. 

“Put the gun down,” Meliorn instructed, ignoring Simon and threatening to push the detonator. 

“Put this in my nightstand drawer, would you Simon?” Izzy said, placing it on top of their dresser, hoping that he would get the point. 

“Izzy, are you fucking serious?” Simon went to get off the bed, but Meliorn held the detonator up high, stopping him. 

“There’s a bomb strapped to your fucking chest, Simon!” Izzy yelled, “just shut up and let me do this,” 

“Let’s go,” Meliorn said, putting his hand on her shoulder and walking her towards his apartment door before turning back to Simon, “you stay still,”

Simon could only watch helplessly as this Meliorn walked his fiance out the door. But there had been something Izzy had said. About her nightstand drawer. She didn’t keep a gun in her nightstand drawer. He heard the door close and he quickly stripped himself of the bomb, taking care to leave all the wires intact. He ran to the far end of their apartment and put it inside the bathroom closet. He thought to throw it out the window, but he didn’t want to put anyone else in danger if it did go off. 

Then he bolted back towards the door. He took the stairs down to the lobby and out of the building. He went around the block twice looking for Izzy, but she was gone. 

He walked slowly back to the apartment. Once he arrived, he grabbed everything he could easily move and put it in front of the bathroom door, not knowing how to diffuse a bomb and wanting to be able to protect himself if it blew. 

He went into the bedroom and shut the door, putting as much distance between himself and the bomb as possible. He grabbed his phone from where Meliorn had thrown it across the room, cursing at the destroyed screen. It had been partially cracked when the Seelies had ambushed him a few nights ago, but Meliorn had thrown it against the wall and now the screen was his shambles.. He scrolled through his contacts, taking care not to cut himself as he tried to think of someone who could diffuse a bomb. His finger stopped on Alec and before he knew it he was calling him. 

“Hello?” Alec said from the other line. 

“Hey, Alec, hi. It’s Simon,” Simon said. 

“Yeah I know…”Alec trailed off, “what’s up?”

“Do you know how to diffuse a bomb?” Simon asked. 

“Why do I need to diffuse a bomb?!” Alec asked frantically but softly. Magnus heard what he said and had his eyes on him instantly, wondering who Alec was talking to and what they wanted, “is everything okay? What’s going on?” 

“Um…” Simon hesitated, “do you know someone named Meliorn?” 

Alec didn’t speak for a moment, “I’ll be over in twenty minutes,” 

“Who was that?” Magnus asked as Alec hung up the phone. 

“Simon,” Alec said, shifting a sleeping Rafeal from his thigh to Magnus’ before struggling to get off the floor, “they’re in trouble,”

“What? Where are you going?” Magnus asked softly, but Alec ignored him, just grabbed his cane that was leaning against the bed, “Alexander!” 

“I’ll be back,” he said, going to leave the room. 

“What’s going on?” Magnus asked, grabbing Alec’s wrist and pulling him a little closer to the ground. 

“I don’t know,” Alec shook his head, “something with Meliorn,”

“No! Alec, you can’t!” Magnus hissed, “we just...we’re all together. We just got away from the Circle,”

“She’s my sister,” Alec replied, “I have to help her,” 

Magnus sighed, knowing there was no way he was going to be able to stop his husband, “please be careful,” 

“I will,” Alec said, pressing a firm kiss to Magnus’ lips, “I love you,”

“I love you too,” Magnus replied. 

“I promise I’ll come back,” Alec said softly, running his thumb lightly over Magnus’ cheek. 

“You better,” Magnus replied, “I’m going to kill you if you don’t,”

“I know,” Alec said, pressing another kiss to his lips, “I love you,”

Magnus nodded and released his hand, and Alec, leaning on the cane, began to make his way out of the room. 

“Daddy?”

Alec stopped as he heard Max behind him.

“Where you going, daddy?” Max asked, climbing off Magnus’ lap and walking over to Magnus. Alec turned and saw Rafe had woken up and was resting against Magnus’ chest. 

“I’ll be back, blueberry,” Alec told him, leaning down best he could and pressing a kiss to Max’s head. 

“Where you going?” he asked again. 

“I gotta go see your Aunt Izzy,” Alec told him, “I’ll be back soon, okay? You stay here with Papa,” 

“Is she okay?” Max asked. 

“She’s fine,” Alec lied, “I’ll see you soon,” 

He ruffled Max’s hair a little before exhaling and leaving the room, leaving his family again. 

***

Simon, still a little shocked at Alec’s quick reply, started scrolling through his phone again without thinking. Before he knew it, he was calling Jace, which was probably the stupidest thing he could do, since Alec was coming over. Izzy had told him about what Jonathan had told them and about the fight Alec and Jace got into. He really didn’t want another fist fight breaking out in his living room, but Izzy had just been kidnapped so he assumed Jace would want to know.

“What do you want?” Jace asked when he picked up. 

“Oh, um…” Simon hesitated a moment, “we were just attacked,”

“What?” Jace was suddenly engaged, “by who? Is Izzy okay?”

“Meliorn was here,” Simon replied, “he took Izzy,”

“He what?!” Jace yelled, “I’ll be over as soon as I can!”

And with that, Jace hung up. It was then that he remembered what Izzy had said about the drawer. He turned and opened it, finding a folder with Izzy’s picture on the front. He pulled it out of the drawer and opened it, seeing photos of the two of them together as well as photos of him alone. The most concerning part, however, was the overwhelming number of notes and photos of Izzy. 

He just skimmed over the notes, but it was clear that whoever made the file was stalking her and might even have bugs in this apartment. He assumed it was this Meliorn who made the file, but he felt like Izzy would’ve noticed he was following her around. The photos shocked him the most. He had no idea who Meliorn was in relation to Izzy, clearly both Alec and Jace knew, but he needed to know why there were nude photos of her in this file. 

“Izzy! Simon!” Alec’s voice rang through the apartment. 

“In here!” Simon called, shutting the file and standing as Alec walked through the bedroom door, leaning on a cane. 

“What the hell is going on?” Alec asked, “where’s Izzy?”

“With Meliorn,” Simon sighed.

“With Meliorn!?” Alec yelled, “why the hell did you let that happen?!”

“There was a bomb strapped to my freaking chest, man!” Simon yelled back. 

“How’d that happen? You’re a freaking cop!” Alec asked. 

“He jumped me at the door. That seems to be a common theme these days,” Simon sighed, ashamed, his head hanging, “he had a box with him. Said the doorman gave it to him accidentally. The bomb was in the box,”

“Where is the bomb?” Alec asked. 

“Bathroom,” Simon replied. 

“Okay,” Alec said, his mind running a million miles a minute, “get me your toolbox,” 

Simon nodded, going into their spare closet, grabbing the toolbox as Alec began moving things away from the bathroom door. 

“It’s in the closet,” Simon said as Alec entered the bathroom. Alec opened the bathroom closet and looked at the bomb that had been gently placed on the floor. 

“Jesus Christ, this is Seelie work,” Alec mumbled, slowly lowering himself to the ground. 

“Meliorn’s a Seelie?!” Simon asked urgently. Alec looked at him like he was surprised Simon didn’t know about Meliorn. 

“He’s the most powerful Seelie now that Queen’s dead,” Alec replied, taking the toolbox from Simon. 

“Did they know each other before?” Simon asked, remembering the familiarity with which Izzy and Meliorn had spoken with each other. 

“Did she never mention him?” Alec asked. 

“No,” Simon shook his head, “one minute a strange guy is strapping a bomb to my chest, talking about Izzy. Thought he was some creepy stalker, someone she knew in college maybe, I don’t know. Next minute, Izzy’s calling him by name and you’re telling me he’s a Seelie,”

“They were...well, they weren’t dating ever, I don’t think, officially,” Alec sighed, “but they were having copious amounts of sex,”

“So they just hooked up with each other?” Simon asked. 

“It was a little more than that,” Alec replied, “they’d go out together, not to spend time together, but she’d go to Seelie events with him. It wasn’t a healthy relationship. He was too old for her. He manipulated her. It wasn’t good for her,”

“How long ago?” Simon didn’t know if he wanted the answer. 

“They stopped seeing each other ten years ago as far as I’m aware. But I found out about him not long after she turned eighteen,” Alec told him. 

“How old is he?” Simon asked, appalled, “and how old was she when they started seeing each other?!”

“I don’t know how old he is now. I think he’s under forty. I HOPE he’s under forty,” Alec shook his head, not wanting to know how much older Meliorn was than his sister, “and I don’t know how old she was when they started seeing each other and quite frankly I don’t want to know. Now shut up and let me work unless you want this whole damn apartment building to blow up,”

“Apartment building?!” Simon yelled, “I’m calling the bomb squad,”

“No!” Alec said urgently, pushing himself off the ground, “do you want to explain to the police, who the Seelies have in their pocket, that the Seelies planted a bomb here in order to kidnap the girl who just robbed them?” 

“The Seelies do not have the police in their pocket!” Simon insisted, taking out his phone. 

“They may not have you,” Alec replied, grabbing his phone, “but if you ever want to see her again you will not involved them at all,”

“You’re insane, man!” Simon yelled. 

“I will drop your goddamn phone in the toilet and flush it down!” Alec yelled, flipping the lid open, “my sister’s life depends on it! I nearly lost my children, I refuse to lose my sister! You will do as I say, do you understand me?”

“What the hell is he doing here?!”

Both Alec and Simon turned to see Jace standing in the doorway of the bathroom. 

“Jace…” Alec trailed off as he looked at his brother in the doorway. Jace turned to leave. 

“Jace! Wait!” Simon called after him. 

“Jace, this is about Izzy,” Alec said, limping out of the bathroom after his brother, “you can’t say you don’t care,” 

“Oh, I’m surprised you even care,” Jace scoffed, sauntering back into the apartment. 

“Are you fucking serious!?” Alec yelled, “look, Jace, I’m sorry. I know that doesn’t nearly begin to make up for what happened-”

“For ‘what happened’?!” Jace laughed, “for what YOU and MAGNUS did!”

“We didn’t CAUSE her miscarraige!” Alec yelled. 

“You might as well have!” Jace stomped towards him, “had you and your husband kept your goddamn mouths shut, she’d still have the baby right now!” 

“You know what, Jace, we messed up, big time, we know that, and we’re eternally sorry,” Alec pleaded, “there’s nothing we can do now. I’m not asking for your forgiveness. We don’t deserve it. I’m not even asking you to speak to me again, but this is about Izzy. So could we please, PLEASE, put this aside just for now, and work together to get our sister back!”

Alec looked at Jace with pleading eyes, his expression practically begging Jace to agree. 

“Then you don’t ever have to see us again,” Alec added, “I promise,” 

“Okay,” Jace conceded. 

“Thank you,” Alec nodded before going back towards the bathroom wordlessly to diffuse the bomb. 

“Are you okay?” Simon looked at Jace who had the sprinklings of tears in his eyes. 

“I’m fine,” Jace replied quickly, trying his best to discreetly wipe his eyes, “let’s just put your damn apartment back together,” 

“Don’t you want to hide in case Alec accidentally blows the bomb?” Simon asked. 

“He won’t,” Jace replied, fully confident in his brother’s abilities, “your house is a mess,” 

“Right,” Simon nodded, letting his concerns go as he joined Jace in the living room. 

***

“Are you ever going to tell me what you actually want?” Izzy asked as she sat across from Meliorn at his dining room table. Her hands were tied to the arms of the chair she sat in and her ankles were tied to the legs. She would’ve tried to wiggle her broken wrist out of the cast, but he had a tie around the cast as well her upper arm, right where the cast ended. As she stared at the furnishings that were the same as they were the last time she was here nearly ten years ago, she couldn’t help but let her mind wander to the memories she held in his very house, “or are we just going to sit here staring at each other all day?”

“I like staring at you,” he replied and Izzy instantly regretted saying what she said. 

“Yeah, I know that,” Izzy scoffed, “when did you start stalking me?” 

“When you started ignoring me,” Meliorn replied bluntly. After they’d stopped seeing each other nearly ten years ago, they would always end up going back to each other, it was normally Izzy going back to Meliorn. She’d call him, or show up at his doorstep unannounced and she’d stay with him, play his games, do whatever he wanted until she got sick of it then she’d leave. The last time she’d been was not long after Alec and Magnus had met, and then she met Simon. She hadn’t heard from Meliorn for nearly a year after that when he reached out to her again, wondering where she’d disappeared to. When she ignored that text, he began harassing her until she blocked his number. 

“So what are we waiting for here?” Izzy asked again, changing the subject. 

“We are waiting for your brothers to call me,” Meliorn replied, “or you, rather,”

She watched him fiddle with her phone, which was next to the laptop that was no longer facing her. He had shown her security footage of her own apartment to prove that he had disarmed the bomb, which her idiot older brother was stupidly trying to diffuse by himself. 

“What do you want with my brothers?” Izzy asked hesitantly. 

“Well, Alec stabbed me,” Meliorn replied, “and one of you guys killed Queen. Plus, you all stole from us, so, I would’ve thought the answer to your question would be obvious to someone as smart as you,”

“So you just want to kill them?” 

“Yes, I figured that was obvious,”

“Are you going to kill me too?”

“No,” Meliorn stood from his spot and walked over to her, “I could never kill you, my sweet,”

He placed his hand on the side of his face, running a finger over her cheekbone as his fingers ran through her hair. She pulled away from him, trying and failing to get his hand off of her. 

“We’ll run away together,” Meliorn said softly in her ear, causing her to try and pull away further as his breath brushed against her skin. 

“If you touch me without my permission again I swear to god I will personally cut your dick off,” she threatened. 

“Oh, you’re in no position to do that right now,” Meliorn smiled but before he could do anything else, Izzy’s phone began ringing. Meliorn pressed a quick kiss to her temple and she tried to kick her leg out and trip him, but the chair she sat in barely moved, her ankle still tied to it. 

“Ah, your brother,” Meliorn smiled and showed her the phone screen before answering. Izzy tried to scoot forward a bit to hear his conversation, but she couldn’t hear anything Alec was saying, just Meliorn’s responses. 

“Oh, calm down Alec,” Meliron said condescendingly, “she’s fine, relax,”

She went to speak but Meliorn put up a finger, silencing her. She would never show it, but she was actually terrified in her present position. Her and Meliorn did not part on good terms and even when they were together, their relationship was not at all healthy, both physically and emotionally. Meliorn scared her, he always had. She didn’t know what else Meliorn had up his sleeve here and she didn’t know what her brothers would be walking into. 

“Well, you stabbed me, killed Queen, and robbed me,” Meliorn scowled into the phone, “I think I have a right to be a bit angry,” 

Izzy focused back in on Meliorn, trying to hear whatever Alec was saying. 

“You wanna talk to her?” Meliorn asked, “fine,” 

He walked around the table to her and put the phone up to her ear. 

“Izzy?” Alec’s voice was panicked. 

“Hey big brother,” Izzy smiled weakly, though he couldn’t see it. 

“Are you okay?” he asked. 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Izzy replied. 

“We’re gonna get you out of this,” Alec told her, “I promise,”

“Alec, be careful,” Izzy replied, “he’s not as honest as he seems, don’t trust-”

“And that’s enough,” Meliorn pulled the phone away from her and put it back up to his ear, “you can meet us at the Seelie Court and we’ll work something out. We’re already there waiting for you. And leave the cop or I’ll kill her right in front of all of you,” 

“No! Alec don’t!” Izzy yelled, hoping her brother had heard. They weren’t at the Seelie Court. They were in Meliorn’s house. If they went to the Seelie Court, they’d be walking into a trap. Meliorn dropped the phone on the ground and crushed it under his foot, destroying it before he made his way across the table and stood behind her.

“You really need to learn to keep your mouth shut,” Meliorn growled, grabbing her by the hair and pulling her head back so she was looking at him. 

“Well, you’re trying to kill my brothers,” Izzy replied, “can’t expect me to stay quiet,”

“Maybe I should make you stay quiet, hmm?” Meliorn asked, letting go of her hair before walking around the chair she sat in and leaning against the table, putting his foot up on the chair between her legs. 

“We’ve got a while until they bring your brothers here,” Meliorn said casually, letting his foot brush against her thigh, “I think we should find something to pass the time, don’t you?” 

***

With the phone up to his ear, Alec heard Izzy yelling in the background. He couldn’t quite understand what she said and before he said anything else, Meliorn hung up on him. He pulled the phone away and tried to call back but it immediately went to voicemail. 

“Shit,” Alec cursed, taking his phone away from his ear. 

“What just happened?” Simon asked, looking at him anxiously from where he stood hardly a foot away from him. 

“He said to meet him at the Seelie Court and we’d work something out,” Alec sighed, “but something about that doesn’t seem right to me,” 

“What do you mean?” Jace asked from his spot on the couch, “the Seelies don’t lie,” 

“No, Izzy said something about not being able to trust him,” Alec sighed, “about him not being as honest as he seems,”

“So you don’t think they’re at the Seelie Court?” Simon asked. 

“No, I don’t,” Alec groaned before he got an idea, “Simon, do you know her computer password?” 

“Yeah,” Simon replied. 

“Good, get her computer and unlock it. We’ll try to track her phone,” Alec instructed. Simon nodded and went into the bedroom.

“Do you really think Meliorn is that stupid?” Jace asked condescendingly. 

“Can’t hurt to try,” Alec shot back. Simon returned a moment later with Izzy’s computer open, already entering the password. He placed it down on the counter and Alec quickly sat in front of it, going to work to track her phone. 

“Ah-ha,” Alec pointed at the screen, “there. Less than an hour ago her phone was at a mansion outside the city,” 

“Didn’t you and Magnus used to live out that way?” Simon asked. 

“Yeah we did,” Alec nodded, “let’s go,” 

“Right, I’ll drive,” Simon said, grabbing his keys from the counter. 

“You can’t come,” Alec took the keys from his hand and put them back on the counter. 

“What? Why?” Simon asked. 

“Meliorn said if you came he’d kill her in front of all of us,” Alec replied. 

“Isn’t he already going to do that?” Simon asked. 

“I don’t think so,” Jace cut in, “if you look at the file…”

“Don’t even talk about that fucking file,” Simon growled. 

“I don’t think he wants to kill her,” Jace sighed, “but he certainly wants to kill us,” 

“At least let me drive, please,” Simon begged, “I also don’t trust you two not to kill each other,”

Alec and Jace exchanged a look. The same thing was going through Alec’s mind as it had the past week before the job. Izzy would need someone to come back to. Though he wasn’t as confident in his imminent demise, he didn’t want Izzy to lose both her brothers and her fiance. 

“Come on guys!” Simon pleaded, “imagine it was Magnus or Clary there. I won’t go in because I’m not risking that. But at least let me be there when you bring her out, please,” 

“Fine,” Alec conceded, “but we’re parking a block away when we get there,” 

“Fine. Great. Deal,” Simon nodded, picking the keys back up again, “lets go,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought about making this series into a trilogy with the meliorn plot being the main focus of that and digging more into the seelies in this universe and the power they truly had and it was gonna be a “you can’t ever escape” situation. the seelies were going to be at every turn. but then I decided that I probably wouldn’t have been able to execute this the way I wanted to and it would really just be them running from the seelies separately then eventually come together and defeating them. really I wanted to do it because I wanted to focus more on the seelies and on meliorn leading the seelies but I really wouldn’t have been able to do the plot I had in my head (if it could be called that) justice so I decided to just quit while i was ahead. we're getting close, next week marks the last chapter, the week after that we've got the epilogue, and then that's that (which is so strange considering how long i've spent on both this piece and Steal My Heart)  
> See you then!!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my internet has been out since monday and of COURSE this is the week i've been feeling super inspired to write shit but i cant because writing on my phone gives me a headache. i'm posting this from my phone rn and it's starting to give me a headache.   
> anyway, enjoy the last official chapter, I love you all, and thank you for sticking with me  
> warning: violence and implied/reference sexual assault

“Hey, Magnus, hi,” Alec smiled weakly though Magnus couldn’t see him. Alec sat in the back of Simon’s car staring out the window as rain fell around them. 

“What’s going on, darling?” Magnus asked softly, “the boys are asking when you’ll be back,”

“How are they?” Alec asked. 

“Rafe fell back asleep not too long after you left and Max is in my lap, we’re watching a movie,” Magnus replied, “what’s going on, Alexander?”

Alec sighed, “Meliorn kidnapped Izzy,”

“What?!” Magnus moderated his yell, trying not to startled his children. 

“We’re going to get her back,” Alec said. 

“You’re going back to the Seelie Court again?!” Magnus hissed, “are you insane, Alexander?! You barely survived the first time!” 

“We’re not going to the Seelie Court. We’re going to Meliorn’s house,” Alec told him, “I should be home in a few hours,” 

“What? Are you just going to go walking into the house of the guy you stabbed and robbed a few days ago?!” Magnus said through gritted teeth, “you can barely walk, Alexander!”

“Papa, where’s daddy?” Alec heard Max ask, his voice laced with sleep. 

“He’s gonna be home soon, Blueberry,” Magnus said cheerfully before lowering his voice again, “you better fucking come home, Alexander!”

“I’m going to come home,” Alec replied, “I promise,” 

“You better,” Magnus said, taking in a shaky breath, hoping his husband wouldn’t notice the change in his voice. 

“Mags, are you okay?” Alec asked softly, noticing the change in his voice. 

“I almost lost you once this week,” Magnus said softly, fighting to keep the tears in his eyes. 

“You’re not gonna lose me,” Alec assured him, “I survived the Seelie Court-”

“Don’t let your confidence blind your judgement,” Magnus ordered. 

“I won’t,” Alec assured him, “I can take a few Seelies alone in a house,”

“You’re going in alone!?” Magnus asked. 

“No, Jace is coming with me,” Alec informed him. 

“Like Jace wouldn’t hang you out to dry right now,” Magnus scoffed. 

“He’s my brother, Magnus,” Alec said firmly, “and Izzy’s our sister. We’re all going to walk out of there and be okay, I promise,” 

“You better come out of there,” Magnus repeated. 

“I will,” Alec insisted, “I love you, Magnus”

“I love you too, Alexander,” Magnus said softly, “stay safe,”

“I will,” Alec nodded and hung up the phone, exhaling loudly as he did. They were out of the city and would soon be at their destination. Jace was sitting next to him in the backseat and was still speaking softly on the phone with Clary. Alec unbuckled his seatbelt and scooted so his head was sticking into the front seat. 

“I want you to drive straight by the house,” Alec instructed, “make sure you’re going to the speed limit, but not so slow that it’s suspicious. We only get one look at what we’re getting ourselves into,” 

“Got it,” Simon nodded and Alec sat back in his seat. Him and Jace had sat in the back just in case there were any guards in front of the house who might recognize either of them. They were going to drive past the house to see exactly what they were up against before Simon would park a block away and they’d head back to the house on foot. 

“How far?” Alec asked. 

“About a half a mile,” Simon replied. 

“Alright,” Alec nodded before turning to his brother, “half a mile, Jace,”

Jace nodded and said goodbye to Clary, hanging up the phone. He scooted closer to his brother, but not too close that anyone looking would see two figures staring intensely at the house. 

“Of course it's on a fucking hill,” Alec grumbled as they drove past. There was a fence around the property and they couldn’t even see the house from the street. There was a gate and a driveway that led to the house and as they drove past, they saw a treeline building up as you looked further back on the property. That was all they saw before the house was out of their view.

“Not that different from your old place,” Jace remarked. 

“I hope so,” Alec mumbled.

“Where do you want me to park?” Simon asked. 

“Somewhere where it’ll look natural,” Jace replied. 

“Thank you, Jace,” Simon scoffed sarcastically. 

“Well I don’t know where we are,” Jace said defensively. 

“Pull over at that outcrop over there,” Alec pointed, “there’s a hiking trail over there. It’s not uncommon to see a car or two parked there,”

“Okay,” Simon nodded, “I didn’t know you went hiking,”

“We tried it once or twice after we first got married,” Alec said. 

“Why’d you stop?” Simon asked. 

“I got a rash in an unsavory place,” Alec said, “then Magnus also got a rash in an unsavory place,”

“How the hell did you get the rash?” Jace asked, too curious not to. 

“You don’t want to know,” Alec replied. 

“Oh my god!” Simon yelled, “you guys are kinky bastards!”

“Oh god, I didn’t want to know that!” Jace yelled, Simon’s words making Jace realize exactly what Alec had meant. 

“Well you asked!” Alec replied, defending himself. Jace only shook his head as Simon pulled over and stopped the car. 

“Shut the car off and keep the doors locked,” Jace said as he opened the door, “we’ll text you to come pick us up,”

“And if you don’t hear from us in two hours, you run,” Alec instructed, “you go get Clary, you get Magnus and the boys, and you run,” 

“What?” Simon turned and looked at him at him. 

“If we don’t make it out of here, they’re coming for you guys next,” Alec told him, “even if you need to stay on the road for a little while. You just get out of the city, you get as far away from here as possible. Do you understand me?”

“Yeah,” Simon nodded, his jaw clenched. 

“I’m serious, Simon,” Alec said, meeting Simon’s eyes in the rearview mirror, “I am trusting you to keep my family safe if...if I can’t,” 

“I know,” Simon nodded, “you can trust me,” 

“Thank you,” Alec nodded, grabbing his cane and shutting the door. 

“Hopefully it won’t come to that,” Jace said before he shut the door, leaving Simon alone in the car. Alec began walking up the road and Jace followed him. 

“Do you really think it’ll come to that?” Jace asked as the rain began to soak them both.

“I hope not,” Alec replied, leaning on the cane as they walked, “I just needed to say it,”

“Yeah,” Jace nodded. The two continued on in silence and once the house came over their horizon, Alec turned and began walking up towards the trees. They weren’t technically on his property yet, but if there was any sort of long distance surveillance system they would’ve been seen. Alec hated flying blind like this, but they really didn’t have much time to make a plan. Plus they didn’t know how to get any schematics of the house. This was usually Izzy’s territory and without her they were truly lost. The rain lessened once they made it into the cover of the trees and began making their way towards the house. 

“Alec,” Jace said, grabbing Alec’s wrist. 

“Yeah?” Alec asked, looking back at him. 

“I...I’m sorry,” he said. 

“There’s nothing for you to apologise for,” Alec told him, pulling his hand away from Jace’s and continuing on. 

“Yes there is,” Jace insisted, catching Alec’s arm again and stopping him, “I’m sorry I beat the shit out of you,”

“You had every right to beat the shit out of me,” Alec replied, trying to pull away again. 

“No,” Jace shook his head and held him close, “I understand why you and Magnus did what you did. I’m not mad at what you did. I’m still mad you didn’t tell me, but I also understand why you didn’t,”

“Thank you,” Alec nodded, “I understand why you’re mad, it was wrong of me to keep it from you, but I just couldn’t risk my kids,”

“I understand,” Jace bit his lip, “I would’ve done the same,” 

“We cool?” Alec asked, looking at him hesitantly. 

“We’re cool,” Jace replied, going to hug his brother. Alec wrapped his arms around him and fell into the hug, overjoyed to have his brother back. 

“What’s the plan?” Jace asked, pulling away from the hug, looking up through the trees towards the house, “no bodies for the guards to find or no guards to find the bodies,” 

Alec sighed. From the trees they could see the few guards patrolling the empty fields around the mansion. They would be able to climb the trees to get over the fence, but they didn’t have a gun. 

“We’re going to have to take out all those guards,” Jace said, knowing there was no way for them to sneak through the open backyard and through the door without taking out all the guards. 

“Yup,” Alec sighed, trying to formulate a plan, “okay. You go around to the other side. In five minutes, we’re both going to drop down and go at them,”

“Can you climb a tree?” Jace asked, looking down at Alec’s leg. 

“I’ll manage,” Alec replied. 

“Sounds good,” Jace nodded, “you got a knife?”

“Yeah, do you?” Alec asked. 

“Yeah,” Jace replied, “glad we finally decided to talk about that,”

“Me too,” Alec chuckled, “how many do you see?”

“I see three,” Jace replied, “but that’s just on this side of the house,”

“Let’s assume there’s three more on the other side,” Alec said before looking at his watch, “exactly five minutes, then we drop in,”

“Got it,” Jace said before retreating into the trees. Alec put his cane in his hand and began climbing into the trees. He breathed through the pain as he pushed his weight off his injured leg, taking care not to slip on the wet branches. 

Once he was high enough in the tree, Alec tried to find himself a place where he’d be steady and well hidden while also free enough that he’d be able to move if necessary. He ended up climbing into another tree to find that spot where he could see both the front and the back of the mansion. He looked at his watch and saw he had one minute until he would begin. He counted three guards on his side of the house and he saw two on Jace’s side from this angle. 

He looked down at his watch and saw the second hand ticking towards the five minute mark. He watched the seconds tick down until there were five left. He began counting down in his head as he edged closer to the edge of the branch where he’d drop down, right on top of one of the guards. 

When the clock hit one, he fell from the tree onto the first guard’s back, catching all three of them off guard. Before either of the other two could react, Alec was back on his feet. He grabbed his cane by the base of it and swung it upwards, the heavier, handled end connecting with the taller one’s chin. Alec rolled out of the way as the shorter one shot at him and he got the cane between his legs, causing him to go crashing to the ground. 

The first guy was on his feet and aiming his gun at Alec. Alec, unable to get to his feet quick enough, launched himself across the ground and grabbed the shorter one he’d just knocked down and used him as a human shield. The first guy didn’t notice until it was too late. Alec quickly pushed the body aside and swept his cane out, hitting the guy in the ankle while he was caught off guard. He yelled as he fell to the ground. 

Alec stood and began making his way towards the guy he’d just knocked down but the taller one jumped on his back and tackled him to the ground, knocking his cane out of his hand. Alec rolled over quickly, barely dodging the fist that was coming for his face. Alec grabbed his arms and got his good leg underneath him before using as much force was he could to throw him off. 

He scrambled quickly to his feet and grabbed his cane. The first guy was now standing and before he realized what was happening, Alec hit him in the gut, knocking him again to the ground. He brought the cane down on his head hard, satisfied when he heard a deafening crack. 

A shot went off and Alec immediately dropped to the ground, thankfully avoiding the shot that had been sent his way. He swept the cane out again, knocking the taller one to the ground. He got up and went to hit him again, but he grabbed the cane and pulled Alec to the ground as well. Alec groaned as he hit the ground, landing on his bad leg. 

A burning pain crossed his face as his bruised cheek was hit with the butt of a gun. Alec grabbed the gun and pried it out of the taller guy’s hand, throwing it across the lawn. Alec rolled out of the way and got his hand back on his cane. He got to his knees and hit the guy with the heavy end, sending him crashing the ground, unconscious. 

Alec looked up and saw Jace still fighting two guys, so he quickly ran in that direction, leaning on his cane slightly as his leg was still in a lot of pain. He grabbed his cane by the base of it and hit one of the guys Jace was fighting upside the head. Caught off guard, he went down and Alec slammed it into his head until he stopped moving. No longer outnumbered, Jace was able to easily take down his other opponent. 

“All good?” Jace asked. Jace was out of breath and his wet hair was sticking to his forehead, much like Alec’s, but it didn’t look like he was bleeding anywhere. 

“Yeah, you?” Alec replied. He was also out of breath, and there was blood running down his cheek from the hit from the gun as well as down his leg, where his wound from a few days ago had once again been opened. 

“Yeah,” Jace nodded before bending down and grabbing the two guns laying in the hands of the guys at their feet. He took one and handed the other to Alec

“Thanks,” Alec nodded, checking the clip. 

“How many you got?” Jace asked, checking his own. 

“Two,” Alec replied, “you?”

“Three,” Jace said, pushing the clip back in the gun and cocking it. 

“Let’s make it count,” Alec said. Jace nodded and he moved to the back door. Alec raised the gun as Jace pulled it open and Alec quickly stepped inside, still leaning on his cane, looking around for anyone. Jace entered shortly after and locked the door behind them so any other guards who may be outside couldn’t get inside. They made their way from one room to the next, finding each one as empty as the last. The house was eerily silent, the only sound being their wet shoes on the hardwood floor.

Until they heard a single set of footsteps and a male voice from behind them. Alec instantly turned and shot. He had recognized that voice. 

Meliorn didn’t even finish what he was saying when he was hit in the gut with Alec’s bullet, not too far from where his knife had been a few nights ago. Shock was written across his face as his hand came to his stomach, pushing the flaps of the robe he wore open so he could hold it directly. He crumpled to the ground with his hand over his wound as Alec and Jace ran over to him. 

“Keep him alive,” Alec said, “I’m sure Izzy will want to be here when he dies,” 

“Oh, for sure,” Jace agreed. 

“Where is she?!” Alec asked him. He didn’t say anything so Alec grabbed him by the front of the robe, “is she in this house?!”

He still said nothing so Alec began pushing his cane against his bullet wound as Meliorn screamed. 

“Is she here?!” he yelled. Meliorn nodded and that was all Alec needed. He got up and ran deeper into the house. 

“Isabelle!” Alec called, running through the house best he could as he limped and made his way up the stairs, “Isabelle!” 

“Alec!?” he heard Izzy’s questioning voice from down the hall. 

“Izzy!? Izzy, where are you!?” Alec called, trying to follow the sound of her voice. 

“In here!” she called and Alec stopped in front of a set of double doors. Alec tried the handle but it wouldn’t budge. He ran his hands along the top of the frame for a key, but there was none. 

“Stand back!” Alec called. Standing on his good leg, he kicked out his other one, kicking the door in. An immense pain erupted in his leg but he couldn’t care less. He fell slightly into the room, using his cane to catch himself and saw Izzy, her face bloody and eyes red. 

“Oh god…” Alec’s voice trailed off as he put the pieces together in his head, “Izzy…”

“Please don’t ask me,” Izzy’s voice pleaded, “can we go?”

“Of course,” Alec nodded, extending a hand to her which she didn’t take. Alec nodded and led her out of the room, limping a little more as he felt more blood running down his leg, “he’s still alive downstairs. He’s bleeding out on the floor,” 

“Good,” Izzy said, a newfound resolve and hardness inside her, “I need to cut off his dick,” 

Alec, knowing the rage she was feeling, having felt it a few days before, only handed her his knife. He led her back through the house, a trail of blood behind them, to where Jace was still sitting, a hand over Meliorn’s wound with just enough pressure put on it to keep him alive. 

“Isabelle…” Meliorn’s voice was weak. 

“Don’t you dare say my name,” Izzy spat, kneeling in front of him. She raised the knife and stabbed it right into his crotch. He screamed as she put both hands on the knife and pulled it out before stabbing him again and again and again. Jace had quickly cleared out, not wanting her to miss and accidentally stab his hand. 

“Izzy,” Alec said when Meliorn stopped breathing. She didn’t hear him, just kept stabbing the knife, now moving to other parts of his body. 

“Izzy,” Alec bent down so he was a little closer to her ear, “Izzy, stop,”

She still didn’t hear him.

“Izzy! Stop!” he yelled, grabbing her hands and trying to pry the knife away. 

“NO! NO GET OFF ME!” her voice was higher and more desperate than Alec had ever heard her as she thrashed in his arms. He quickly let go, letting her fall back onto the floor as he pulled the knife away. She curled up onto the floor and sobbed, holding herself tightly. 

“Jace, call Simon,” Alec instructed, “have him come get us,”

“Simon’s here?” Izzy’s choked out, “he can’t...I can’t…”

“He’s our ride,” Alec said softly, “if you don’t want to talk to him, you don’t have to,”

Izzy only stared down at her left hand, “he took my ring. Destroyed it. Said I didn’t need it anymore. Said I was his. This is the second ring I’ve lost. I can’t go back to him like this!”

She curled into her ball again and sobbed, and Alec’s heart broke for his sister.

“He’s on his way back,” Jace said. 

“Okay,” Alec nodded, “Izzy, we’ve gotta go,” 

“No,” she said.

“We can’t stay here, more Seelies will be here soon,” Alec told her, “can I help you up?”

Izzy only nodded. Alec wrapped an arm around her waist and lifted her, ignoring the pain in his own leg and using his cane to lift them both up. Once she was on her feet she instantly grabbed his other arm to stabilize her. Keeping watch, Jace led them out of the house and into the rain. They moved slow as Izzy was stumbling and Alec was limping. Soon they saw a car raging towards them, and all stopped in their tracks, figuring the Seelies were here for them, until they saw it was Simon, who had busted through the iron gates. He put the car in park and jumped out, running to Izzy’s side but she shied away, leaning more into Alec. 

“What…?” Simon looked confused when Jace grabbed his arm and pulled him away. 

“Leave her be,” Jace instructed. 

“What happened?” Simon looked scared. 

“We’ll explain later,” Alec said, helping his sister into the backseat, “we just need to leave,”

“I’ll drive,” Jace offered, knowing Simon would be too worried about Izzy to focus on getting them home safely. Simon nodded and climbed into the passenger seat when Alec climbed in the backseat next to Izzy. Jace climbed in the driver’s seat and quickly drove back down the drive, speeding away from the house as fast as he could. 

***

An hour later, they were all sitting safely in Simon’s apartment. Alec had sent Magnus a text while they were in the car, telling him they were all safe but he’d probably be at Izzy’s for a bit. As for Izzy, she hadn’t spoken a word or left her brother’s side since they’d left Meliorn’s. The entire car ride back into the city, Simon had looked back at Izzy more times than he could count. Most of the time she was staring at the floor, but when she had been looking out the front window, it was as if she was looking right through him. 

Simon was on the ground in front of Alec, using his own med bag to restitch the wound that Alec had opened.

“We need to run,” Alec said, breaking the silence in the room. 

“What?” Simon asked, looking up at him. 

“We all need to get out of the city,” Alec repeated, “out of New York,”

“Why?” Jace asked, “all our enemies are dead,”

“We just killed the highest ranking Circle member and the two highest ranking Seelies,” Alec replied, “even if we had no enemies there, we still killed two Seelies. Who have a remarkable public image and the entire police force in their pocket. It’s not safe for us here,” 

“How far do we have to go?” Jace asked. 

“As far as you want. The further, the better,” Alec replied, “but we need to be out in forty-eight hours,”

“Forty-eight hours?!” Jace exclaimed. 

“He’s right,” Izzy said. Everyone in the room stopped and looked at her. She didn’t look at any of them, just at the floor. 

“Meliorn said he was mobilizing a force to kill my family,” she said softly, “said they were all going to die. I was supposed to be the only one to survive this ordeal,” 

“So he was trying to lure us to the Seelie Court to kill Alec and I,” Jace clarified, “then he was going to send forces to kill the rest of us?” 

“Do you know if he ever mobilized those forces?!” Alec asked frantically, terrified that he’d get home and find his family dead. 

“I’m not sure,” Izzy replied, “but if he hadn’t, I’m sure someone will soon,”

“God, my boys...I need to get home,” Alec mumbled before turning to his sister, “Izzy, are you gonna be okay here with Simon?” 

For the first time since Meliorn took her, she looked Simon in the eye. He gave her a weak smile and a tiny wave from his spot on the ground, which caused her to smile a little. 

“Yeah, I’ll be okay,” Izzy replied, “thank you, both of you,”

“For what?” Jace asked, confused. 

“For coming to get me,” she replied. 

“Did you think we weren’t?” Alec asked. 

“I...I don’t know what I thought. I certainly didn’t think you two would be working together,” Izzy said. Alec and Jace both nodded before Alec stood from the couch, leaving Izzy there alone. As Alec moved away, Simon sat himself on the armchair next to the couch. 

“You guys need to leave too,” Alec said as he limped towards the door, “I don’t care where you go. Just get out of the city. Lay low somewhere for a week or two, then move somewhere else. Don’t stay anywhere more than two weeks until you find a more permanent place,”

“Okay,” Simon nodded as Izzy had gone back to staring at the floor. 

“Same for you, Jace,” Alec turned to his brother, “move around a little before settling down and get out as soon as possible,”

“Shouldn’t be too hard since most of our shit is already in boxes,” Jace mumbled. 

“You’re gonna be okay, Iz?” Alec asked one more time. 

“I’ll be fine,” she assured him, “go,” 

Alec nodded and in a second was out the door. Jace followed a few moments later then Izzy and Simon were alone. Simon extended his hand wordlessly and she only looked at it before taking it, holding on to Simon like he was her lifeline. 

“I’m sorry,” Simon said softly, his voice broken, taking her hand in both of his, “I’m so sorry, Isabelle,” 

“Don’t be sorry,” she replied, “I’m sorry I never told you about him...I’m sorry I wasn’t more prepared for this but I didn’t think...after I actually cut him off I thought he moved on,” 

“Hey, it’s not your fault he’s crazy,” Simon said, causing her to laugh a little.

“That’s an understatement,” she shook her head, still not looking at him, “but he’s dead now...I killed him,” 

Simon only nodded, not quite sure how to respond. 

“We should start packing,” Izzy said softly, “there are bugs in this apartment. I don’t know what other Seelies know about them. We need to go, tonight,”

“Okay,” Simon nodded, “I’ll go get some boxes,”

Simon went to stand but Izzy grabbed him tightly, not letting him walk away. 

“Don’t go,” she pleaded, looking him in the eye. 

“We need boxes, come with me,” he said.

“Let me change,” she stood and went to the bedroom and Simon went to follow her. 

“Please don’t come with me,” she said, not meeting his eye. 

“Okay,” Simon nodded, going and sitting on the couch, “I’ll wait here,”

“Thank you,” she went to shut the bedroom door. 

“Isabelle,” Simon called. 

“Yeah?” she looked at him, not quite meeting his eyes. 

“You don’t ever need to tell me what happened between you and Meliorn. Either what happened now or what happened before,” Simon said, “but if you ever want to, I promise I won’t ever judge you,” 

She smiled and met his eye, “thank you, Simon,”

“Of course,” Simon smiled, “I love you,”

“I love you too,” she offered him a soft smile before shutting the door. 

***

“Daddy!” Max yelled the second Alec walked into the loft. He climbed out of Magnus’ lap and ran over to Alec, who dropped his cane and easily scooped him up in his arms. Magnus was sitting on the couch with Rafe leaning on him, both looking at Alec and Max in the doorway. 

“Hey blueberry,” Alec smiled, hugging him a little longer than necessary. Rafe climbed off the couch and ran to Alec as well. Alec crouched down and wrapped his arm around Rafe tightly. 

“Why were you at Aunt Izzy’s so long?” Max asked.

“Well, I needed to talk to her,” Alec told him. 

“About what?” Max asked. 

“About what happened,” Alec replied. He and Magnus had been referring to the past week and a half as ‘what happened’, none of them really ready to say it outloud now that they were all back together. 

Max went quiet at that and just rested his head on Alec’s shoulder. Alec then met Magnus’ eyes and immediately saw the tears welled there. Alec stood up slowly, Rafe gripping his pant leg as he did. He shut the door and locked it before moving to the couch where Magnus stood up. Rafe stood up with him and clutched his pant leg as Alec wrapped his free arm around his husband. 

“Magnus, I’m so sorry,” Alec said softly in his ear. Magnus sniffled and nodded against his shoulder, trying his best to hide his tears from his kids, “I had to,”

“I know you did,” Magnus said softly, not letting go of his husband, “I’m just glad you’re okay,”

“Me too,” Alec reached his free hand up and wiped the tear that had just spilled from own his eye before pressing a quick kiss to his lips. 

Rafe tugged at Alec’s pant leg and Alec looked down, “what is it?”

Rafe just pointed to the blood that had soaked into his pant leg and shoe. 

“It’s okay, kiddo,” Alec assured him, “just my booboo from the other night. It started bleeding again but Simon fixed me up. I’m fine now,”

Rafe nodded and went over to the Magnus, raising his arms to be picked up. 

“Is everything settled now?” Magnus asked, picking Rafe up, who happily rested his head on his father’s shoulder and wrapped his arms around his neck. 

“Not quite,” Alec sighed, “we need to run,” 

“What?” Magnus’ voice was soft. 

“We need to leave New York as soon as possible,” Alec replied, “like, within the next two days,”

“Two days!? Alexander!” Magnus looked around the apartment, “how are we supposed to pack this all up in two days?!”

“We’re leaving, daddy?” Max asked. 

“Yes, we’re going out of the city, like we talked about the other day,” Alec told him before turning back to Magnus, “and we’re not packing everything up. We’re going to get as much as we can and pack up the cars and we are getting out of here,” 

“Where are we supposed to go?” Magnus asked.

“I don’t know. Away. Out of New York,” Alec replied, “I’m going to go out, get us some moving boxes and some dinner so we can get to work,” 

“No! Daddy don’t leave!” Max protested as Alec tried to put him down. 

“I’ll go,” Magnus offered, knowing his boys missed Alec as he was gone most of the afternoon. He let Rafe down and kissed Alec quickly before heading towards the door. 

“Be careful,” Alec called. 

“Of course, darling,” Magnus smiled before shutting the door behind him. 

“Okay boys, so you heard papa and I. You know we’re leaving,” Alec told them, “but we’re going to have to leave some stuff behind. So we need to go into your rooms and pick exactly what you want to bring and what can stay behind,”

“Are we ever gonna get it back?” Max asked. 

“Maybe,” Alec replied, “but if we don’t we can always buy you new ones once we get to the new house,” 

“Where is the new house?” Max asked.

“Well, we don’t know yet, Blueberry,” Alec told him, “but that means both of you get to help us pick one out,” 

Max seemed satisfied with that answer, “let’s go to our rooms,”

“Great idea, kiddo,” Alec smiled, extending a hand to Rafe who took it silently. They went down the hall and first went into Max’s room.

“Okay, I want you boys to each go into your rooms and put anything you want to bring in the middle of the floor,” Alec said, putting Max down on the floor. The boys were still sleeping in their bed, so Alec planned to come and pack all the stuff after they were asleep. 

“Okay!” Max went running towards his toy chest and Alec went to join him but Rafe didn’t let go of his hand, instead tugging Alec towards his room. Alec took a quick look at Max and the window, seeing the window locked and Max preoccupied with his toys. Alec let Rafe lead him through the bathroom and into his own room. 

“Do you wanna start with your toys or clothes?” Alec asked. Rafe only walked towards his closet as he was the more practical child. 

“Are we safe, daddy?” Rafe asked softly, picking up some of his shoes and beginning his pile. 

“We will be,” Alec assured him, “once we get out of the city,”

“Are Aunt Izzy and Simon and Uncle Jace and Aunt Clary coming?” he asked. Alec smiled at how concerned his son was for his family. Rafe was already more like him than Alec could’ve ever imagined. 

“They’re leaving too but going to different places,” Alec told him, “we’re all going to be okay,”

“Will we see them again?”

“Not for a while,” Alec’s heart hurt to say that. He hadn’t gone more than two weeks without seeing his siblings their entire lives and now he might have to go months and possibly years, “for all our safety, but we will see them again,” 

“Okay,” Rafe said, pulling a few shirts from the hangers he could reach. 

“I’m gonna go check on Max, I’ll be right back,” Alec said. Rafe only nodded before going back to the closet. Alec stood and went back into Max’s room to see a pile of all of Max’s toys in the middle of the room. 

“You know, we can’t take all your toys, Max,” Alec said.

“What?” Max turned and looked at him, a heartbroken look on his face. 

“Well, we can try,” Alec gave him a soft smile, seeing the tears coming at his previous statement. Max nodded before going back to his bookcase where he was pulling out every single book. Alec only sighed, knowing he and Magnus were going to have to cut down. 

“DADDY!” 

Alec heard Rafe’s yell and he went dashing back into the bedroom. He looked around to see Rafe cowering in the closet but nothing he could see that would’ve scared him. 

“What’s wrong, kiddo?” Alec asked softly, crouching down as he slowly approached his son. 

“Someone was at the window,” Rafe said. Alec immediately hardened and quickly got up and went to the window. He ensured it was locked and peered around. He didn’t see anyone so he unlocked it and opened it, looking out onto the fire escape where he saw a cat a few steps up. 

“Oh, Rafe, baby, it was just a cat,” Alec said, “do you wanna come see?”

Rafe shook his head quickly and Alec shut the window, locking it tight. 

“You’re okay, kiddo,” Alec said, easing himself down to sit at the foot of his bed, “come here,” 

Rafe quickly ran out of the closet and into his father’s arms, crying into his shirt. 

“Are you okay in there, Max?” Alec called, not wanting to leave his current position but needing to make sure his four year old hadn’t found some clever way to hurt himself. 

“Can I come in, daddy?” Max stepped out into the doorway of the bathroom. 

“Of course, blueberry,” Alec said softly. Max came running into the room and into the arm Alec had opened for him. Max started softly crying in his arms as well. 

“You’re okay,” Alec said softly, hugging his boys to his chest, blinking back his own tears, “you’re both okay. I’m never going to let anything happen to you ever again, I promise. I love you both so much. You and your papa are the best thing that ever happened to me,” 

“How did you and papa meet?” Rafe asked. Alec smiled, thinking about that night, which was only six and half years ago, but still felt like lifetimes ago. 

“Oh, it was at this great big party,” Alec began, knowing he would have to censor the story a bit, but not caring all that much. He was more than happy to tell his sons about the best day of his life, because they certainly would not be here in his arms right now if it had never happened. 

That is where Magnus found them where he returned home. Alec sitting with both boys in his lap, telling them the story of their wedding. He smiled as he watched his family, back together again. Alec looked up at his husband and smiled, gesturing for him to join them. They needed to pack, sure, but their boys were happy and content right now. They could pack through the night and still be ready to go in the morning and be out of New York before they had to sleep. 

Magnus sat down next to his husband and Max climbed out of Alec’s lap and into Magnus’. Max took Magnus’ hand and looked at the wedding ring there as Rafe looked at Alec’s while he explained the significance of it to them. And for the first time in their lives they knew, deep down, that everything was going to be alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so that’s that. I’ve got an epilogue for you next week which will come with a nice little note about how much this series meant to me and how much you guys mean to me and the whole to-do. In the meantime, I’ve toyed with the idea of maybe doing some “missing scenes” or other one-shots to go along with this series. I don’t know if I’m going to do it, but if there are any scenes either from this story, Steal My Heart, or the 6 year gap in between that you would like to see, leave them in the comments and if any of them grab onto me and don’t let go, you’ll see them. In the meantime, if you want to see anything else from me, please subscribe, go check out my other series When Alec Met Magnus if you haven’t already, I’ve been working on some pieces for that series and I hope to publish a few more soon. I’m also tossing around some ideas for a new multi-chapter piece and possibly a new series of one shots. I’m kinda at a crossroads right now with what I’m writing, I don’t know what’s going to come next. Anyway, if you’re interested in finding out what comes next for me, please subscribe or just check back periodically to see if I’ve got anything new.  
> Love you all, see you next week for the final installment!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The True End  
> One Year Later

_One Year Later_

Jace couldn’t help but smile as he pulled up to his house. They’d been living there a little less than a year, but it was already more perfect than he could’ve ever imagined his life being. What surprised him though when he arrived was his wife’s car was in the driveway too. She had a late shift at the hospital and had told him this morning that she’d be home long after he would. He had even brought some work home with him, something he only did if he knew Clary had a late shift. 

He quickly got out of the car and carefully grabbed the box that held a few engagement rings and a necklace he was working on. He balanced it on his hand and grabbed his tool bag before locking the car and heading towards the house. He glanced around the small neighborhood, looking for any signs of trouble. The sun was setting around the house and all he saw was a few kids riding their bikes and an elderly couple walking together. 

“Clary?” Jace called as he opened the door to their house. She wasn’t in the kitchen or the dining room so he moved further down the hall. He glanced in the living room and saw it empty as well. Now he was beginning to panic. He quickly opened the door to his home workroom and put down what he held in his hands before slowly making his way up the stairs. 

“Clary, are you up here, babe?” Jace called again. 

“I’m in the bedroom!” Clary called back. Jace relaxed a little bit and still stayed on guard until he pushed the bedroom door open and saw Clary lying in bed. 

“Hey,” Jace quickly moved and sat on his side of the bed, brushing the hair off her face, “are you okay?” 

“I called in sick,” she replied. 

“Oh, I didn’t wake you up, did I?” Jace asked. 

“You did, but I don’t mind,” Clary smiled before reaching and brushed a bit of his hair behind his ear, “I like waking up to your pretty face,”

“How do you feel? What’s going on?” Jace put a hand on her forehead, feeling her temperature. 

“I feel fine right now, have for the past couple of hours,” Clary replied.

“Then why are you napping at six o’clock at night?” he asked. 

“I had a stressful day,” she said. 

“Why?” he suddenly looked worried again, “and why didn’t you call me?”

“I know you’ve been busy,” Clary told him, running a hand through his hair. Not too long after they’d settled down here, Jace opened his own jewelry store. They lived in a relatively small town now and there weren’t many jewelry stores in the area, so Jace had very little competition. He quickly built his reputation and became one of the most respected jewelers in the area. They were both happy that he finally had business because he’d had a slow start, but he was getting busier and busier. So busy that he was considering bringing on someone else. 

“Still, you should’ve called,” Jace said softly, “what’s going on?” 

“I started vomiting not too long after you left this morning,” Clary said, turning away from him and staring at the ceiling, “I threw up a few times. Once it subsided for long enough I went out to drug store,”

“Why?” Jace asked. 

“Well I was about to tell you until you interrupted me,” Clary teased. 

“Sorry,” Jace chuckled and looked down at the bed. 

“I bought…” Clary took a deep breath, “I bought a pregnancy test,”

“What?” Jace asked softly, looking up at her. They were both still numb after the loss of their first child. They knew they wanted to have a child, but they were both scared of that child meeting the same fate. Less than a month ago, when they felt more secure in their current situation, they had agreed that they were going to try. Their mentality was, if they had another child, clearly it was meant to be. 

“Did you...did you take it?” Jace asked. 

“Yes,” she bit her lip. 

“And?” Jace leaned towards her a little. 

“I’m pregnant,” she looked at him with a soft smile. 

“For real?” Jace asked. 

“Yes,” Clary confirmed. 

“Oh my god,” Jace could only lean down and kiss her. Clary wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close. He pulled away from the kiss and began pressing kisses to her face, causing her to laugh as he worshipped her. He moved steadily down her body until he reached her stomach. He laid a hand on it lightly. 

“We’re going to protect you baby,” Jace said softly, pressing a kiss to her stomach, “I promise,”

***

“What do you want for breakfast?” Izzy called to Simon as she stood in the kitchen, staring into the refrigerator. 

“I don’t care!” Simon returned, “whatever you want!”

Izzy sighed and shook her head. She had asked him because she didn’t care what they had. She pulled the carton of eggs from the fridge and opened it, seeing there were enough for both of them. She also grabbed some fruit and brought them both over to the counter. 

“Hey, Iz, when are we sending the wedding invitations again?” Simon asked, sticking his head out the bedroom door, looking at her. 

“Next week,” Izzy replied, cracking the eggs into a bowl. 

“Thanks,” Simon disappeared into the bedroom again. Izzy laughed at how he just couldn’t seem to remember those details, even though he was being pickier about planning this wedding than she was. They were the only ones who decided to move to a different city as opposed to living somewhere in the country. It was easier for both of them to get work that way. The hardest part of planning their wedding had been deciding whether or not the wedding was going to be in the city. 

“Oh my god!” 

Izzy dropped the whisk in her hand and ran towards the bedroom, where Simon had yelled. When she entered she found him half dressed with the phone up to his ear. 

“What’s wrong?!” Izzy asked frantically. 

“Nothing!” Simon said excitedly before going back to listening to whoever was on the phone. 

“Then why’d you yell?” Izzy asked. 

“Clary’s pregnant!” Simon’s smile was as big as his face. 

“Oh my god!” Izzy went over to him to try and hear what else Clary was saying over the phone. She leaned back against her fiance, resting her head against his shoulder. 

“Yeah, I’m so happy for you guys,” Simon said, “I’ll talk to you later. Yeah, bye,” 

“That’s so amazing,” Izzy smiled, “I’m so happy for them,” 

“Me too,” Simon replied, wrapping his arms around her waist, “I can’t wait to have our own some day,” 

Izzy froze at that, visibly tensing in Simon’s arms. 

“Babe?” Simon looked at her, a little concerned, “you okay?”

“I need to finish breakfast,” Izzy said softly, pulling out of Simon’s arms and leaving the room. Simon only stared at the door, not quite sure what had just happened. He finished getting dressed quickly and went out into the kitchen where Izzy was intensely chopping fruit. He poured himself a cup of coffee before sitting down at one of the barstools. 

“What’s going on?” Simon asked, searching her face for some response, but she only stared down at the counter, “Isabelle?”

She slammed the knife down on the counter, before looking up at him, tears in her eyes. 

“Izzy, what’s wrong?” Simon stood and moved to be within inches of her. Since the incident with Meliorn, Simon could not initiate contact with her, she had to initiate it with him when she wanted to. Usually when she was upset she would come to him immediately and he’d hold her until she was better. 

This time, however, she stayed away from him though, not wanting him to hold her because she knew she’d break down. 

“I don’t know if I could ever give you children, Simon,” Izzy said softly. 

“Hey, that’s okay if you can’t,” Simon replied, wanting nothing more than to reach out and pull her into his arms, “we don’t have to have kids. I mean, I’d like to, but we can adopt. I know we haven’t been having sex much but they don’t have to be our biological children-”

Izzy cut him off by nodding, not wanting him to continue. She hugged herself and stared at the food that was still sitting at the counter. 

“Is there something else?” Simon asked softly. Izzy only nodded. 

“What is it?” he asked. They’d only had sex a few times since Meliorn and each time it had been Izzy who initiated everything. Simon didn’t have a problem with that, he just wanted to help her heal, even if it meant they never had sex again. She hardly ever talked about him, but every time she was willing, Simon listened attentively, slowly piecing the entire story in his head. 

“I…” Izzy stuttered out, “did I ever tell you about the first time Meliorn and I broke up?” 

“No, I don’t think so,” Simon replied. 

“Our relationship was extremely toxic. It was emotionally abusive which turned into some pretty fucked up sex,” Izzy sighed, “it was essentially an unnegotiated BDSM relationship that started when I was too young to realize the scope of what was happening to me. He made me dependent on him,”

Simon only nodded, trying to hide his anger at Meliorn from her. Whenever he told her more about her relationship with Meliorn, he’d just listen quietly, letting her say as much or as little as she wanted. 

“How did you even meet him?” Simon asked, unable to contain his curiosity. 

“I don’t want to talk about that,” Izzy shook her head, “but after we broke up I only ever had sex with people for jobs. I saw that as work, but anything I wanted to do for pleasure...I went back to him. Regularly. Too regularly. Like I said, he made me dependent on him. Then you came along,” 

Simon only nodded, not knowing exactly where this story was going. 

“But I never really processed the relationship we had,” Izzy continued, letting out a shaky breath, “I never really came to terms with the toll it took on me. Deep down I knew I was dependent on him in a bad way, but I just kept it buried. Then I met you and I figured I’d never see him again so I would never have to think about him again. I never dealt with it,” 

She paused for a moment before continuing. 

“I didn’t think twice about seeing him again for the job. It was just something else I had to do to get my nephews back,” she said, “I didn’t want to prolong it. I thought I’d talk to him for five minutes and then I’d never see him again for real this time,”

She turned away from him even more so he couldn’t even see her face. 

“Last year, when he, um…” Izzy stuttered again, not wanting to say it. 

“Yeah,” Simon said, telling her he knew what she meant.

“Yeah,” Izzy nodded, “he was talking about…”

She took a shaky breath in and reached her hand out to Simon. He took it and squeezed it but stayed where he was. 

“He talked about...about how after this was all over and we ran away together, that um…” she took a deep breath, “how he was gonna make me have his babies. How I was gonna be a good little housewife for him and-”

She couldn’t continue as a sob wracked through her body. 

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Simon said softly, taking a half step closer to her before stopping himself. She took the initiative though and fell against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her tightly as she sobbed against his chest. He ran his hand through her hand and placed a gentle kiss to the top of her head. 

“You don’t have to say anything else,” Simon assured her, “I won’t bring it up again, I promise. I’m sorry,”

“Don’t be,” Izzy sniffled, “you didn’t know,” 

“Still,” Simon said. 

“I’m sorry for being such a mess,” Izzy chuckled weakly. 

“Hey, don’t talk about my fiance that way!” Simon said, causing her to laugh a little, “you’re allowed to be a mess, it’s okay. Whatever you need to do to cope, I’ll be here for you. For the rest of our lives. Til death do us part. That’s what we’re signing up for,”

Izzy nodded against his chest, “how’d I get so lucky?” 

“I should be asking the same question,” Simon replied, kissing her forehead, “I love you. We’re gonna get through this together, okay?”

“Together,” Izzy repeated, “okay,” 

***

Magnus groaned as his alarm went off, rousing both him and Alec from sleep. He felt Alec shifting beside him and he soon felt Alec’s arm drape over his body and pull him closer so he was flush against his husband. Alec leaned down and pressed a kiss just under his ear. Then another right next to it as he slowly moved towards Magnus’ lips. 

“Stop that, angel, or I’m not going to want to get out of bed,” Magnus mumbled but still tilted his head, giving Alec more access. 

“What time is it?” Alec asked, sucking on Magnus’ jaw. 

“Six thirty,” Magnus replied.

Alec groaned, “we need to start setting an earlier alarm,” 

“Why?” Magnus asked.

“Cause my days are always better when they start with sex with you,” Alec said innocently before kissing Magnus long and deep. 

“Well, we can take a quick shower,” Magnus turned to him, “I think we have time for that,”

“I’m sure we can make time,” Alec nodded. They clamored out of bed and nearly ran into the adjoining bathroom. 

They were out of the shower fifteen minutes later, well, Alec was out of the shower, Magnus was still in there. He needed a few more minutes to calm down and Alec wasn’t helping him do that. Alec had chuckled, kissed him and slapped his ass before getting out. He pulled on his clothes before leaving the bedroom and going down the hall towards the boys’ room.

Since the incident, Alec always checked their bedroom as soon as he left his own. Even if he wasn’t waking them up yet, he just always needed to check. Every time he walked by, even if it was in the middle of the night, anytime he knew the boys were in there, he had to check. 

Max and Rafe shared a room, though they certainly didn’t need to. They had two guest bedrooms, three if they counted Max’s currently empty bedroom. The house they’d purchased was much too big for the four of them, but this one had had a swimming pool as well was a small balcony on the second floor landing that looked over the living room that the boys absolutely loved. And at that time, Alec and Magnus weren’t going to deny them anything. 

They’d bought the house a little less than a month after they’d left the city, and had it fully furnished and ready to move into within two weeks. They were all grateful to get out of the hotel they’d been staying in. Though they’d only been in that particular hotel for a couple weeks, they’d been staying at different hotels. There were some nights that Alec and Magnus had to sleep apart, each of them taking one of the kids if they couldn’t get a room with a king sized bed. At that point, the boys weren’t ready to sleep away from them. 

They still weren’t ready to sleep away from them when they moved into the new house, but now they had a king sized bed and it was easy for all four of them to sleep together. Alec and Magnus slowly brought up the idea of the boys going and staying in their new rooms, but neither wanted to sleep alone. They had moved Max’s bed into Rafe’s room and that’s where they slept. Most nights, Alec and Magnus had to stay in their rooms until they fell asleep, but once they were asleep, they could leave them together. Most nights, one of them would come into their bedroom having had a nightmare, and they’d both get up and go back to the bedroom until he fell back asleep.

Alec gave a light knock on the door like he always did, light enough so if they were asleep they most likely wouldn’t hear it. When he didn’t get a response, he pushed the door open and his heart dropped when he saw the beds were empty. 

“Boys?” Alec called, trying to keep his voice as steady and calm as possible. He quickly went into Rafe’s bathroom and found it empty. He went across the hall to Max's room, finding it and the adjoining bathroom empty as well. He still tried to keep himself calm but he made his way quickly down the hall. He pulled the door open and exited onto the landing where he heard a commotion in the kitchen followed by Max’s laughter. 

Alec breathed a sigh of relief as he went down the stairs and found Rafe standing on a chair going into the spice cabinet and saw Max on the ground next to the chair, a variety of spice bottles on the counter. 

“What are you boys up to?” Alec smiled as he walked into the kitchen. 

“Pancakes, daddy!” Max smiled before starting to jump up and down, “pancakes! Pancakes! Pancakes!” 

“Hang on their kiddo,” Alec said, lifting Rafe up off the chair and putting him on the door, “you do know it’s Wednesday, right? You have school,”

“We have time for pancakes,” Rafe objected. 

“No, cause Papa and I have to drop you off early, remember?” Alec asked, “we need to meet the builders at Papa’s new studio,”

“Oh yeah,” Rafe grumbled. 

“Why don’t you two go get dressed for school and I’ll get you a quick breakfast,” Alec said as he began picking up the spices from the counter and putting them back in the cabinet, “wait. If you were making pancakes, why were you in the spice cabinet?”

“To get paprika!” Max exclaimed.

“Oh, blueberry, you don’t put paprika in pancakes,” Alec smiled. 

“Told you,” Rafe said and Max only stuck his tongue out at his brother. 

“Okay, go get dressed,” Alec said, gesturing to the stairs as he continued picking up the bottles, thankful none of them had broken open. He heard Magnus greet the boys as they went up into their rooms. 

“What’s on the menu this morning, darling?” Magnus asked, “besides me of course,” 

Alec laughed a little, “well, if our sons had anything to do with it, paprika pancakes,”

“Oh no,” Magnus grimaced, “bagels then?” 

“Since when have we ever had bagels in this house, Magnus?” Alec looked at him. 

“Bagels are quick and easy, why do you not let me get them?” Magnus pouted. 

“You do not buy bagels outside the New York City area, especially from a bag in a grocery store,” Alec said, “you might not have lived in New York your entire life but I will not allow fake bagels in my house,”

“Okay,” Magnus smiled at Alec’s little rant. 

“There’s frozen waffles in the freezer,” Alec said. 

“You scoff at grocery store bagels yet you eat frozen waffles from a box,” Magnus said, opening the freezer regardless and pulling them out. 

“They were a staple in my diet growing up,” Alec replied.

“And bagels from a bag were a staple in mine,” Magnus said, tossing the waffles into the toaster. 

“Well, you can have your bagels from a bag,” Alec said, shutting the spice cabinet and walking over to his husband, “but do not feed our children that cardboard garbage,”

Magnus couldn’t help but laugh before he kissed his husband. Alec smiled as they moved their lips together, lazily making out in the middle of the kitchen.

“Don’t you get cooties from that?” Rafe stood in the doorway, now dressed in his school uniform.

“Now, where did you hear that?” Magnus asked, pulling away from Alec but leaving his hand on his low back. 

“A girl at school said you get cooties from kissing people,” Rafe replied. 

“And what are cooties, exactly?” Alec raised an eyebrow, stepping away from Magnus and removing the waffles from the toaster. He plated them before putting them on the breakfast bar in front of where Max and Rafe usually sat. 

“I don’t know…” Rafe trailed off, thinking about it as Magnus placed butter and syrup in front of the counter, “but do you have them?”

“Any cooties that Papa has, he gave me long ago,” Alec said. 

“And it hasn’t done anything to either of us,” Magnus smiled. 

“Papa! I tied my tie all by myself!” Max came running down the stairs excitedly. He slid into the kitchen in his socks with his tie tied in a shoelace knot around his neck. 

“Not quite, blueberry,” Magnus smiled, “come here, kiddo,”

Max grumbled as he walked over to Magnus. Magnus untied the tie and straightened his button down and blazer before tying the tie properly, completing his school uniform. 

“There you go,” Magnus gave him a little pat on the chest, “now go eat your breakfast before Rafe does,”

Max climbed onto the stool next to Rafe and Alec began to help him put butter and syrup when his phone started ringing. 

“It’s Jace,” Alec said, “can you?”

“Sure,” Magnus went and took over for Alec, “want a coffee?”

“Please,” Alec replied as he exited the kitchen and answered the phone. 

“Hey, what’s going on?” Jace asked. Things had still been a little slow going in terms of mending their relationship after their talk in the woods, but it had moved along. They were almost back to where they had been before. The hardest thing in mending this relationship is they still didn’t know where the other was, so they couldn’t meet face to face. None of them knew where each other were just in case one of them was caught. The first time they were all going to see each other again since they left was going to be at Izzy’s wedding which still wasn’t for another year. 

“Not much man, how are you?” Alec asked. 

“Pretty great, actually,” Jace replied. Alec could hear the smile in Jace’s voice and couldn’t help but smile himself. 

“Why’s that?” Alec asked. 

“Clary’s pregnant,” Jace told him. 

“Really?” Alec could barely contain his excitement. He had been hoping beyond hope that they would try to have another child. 

“Yeah,” Jace confirmed.

“Oh my god, congratulations!” Alec smiled, “I’m really happy for you guys,” 

“Thanks,” Jace laughed, “I’ll let you go, but Clary and I just wanted to tell you,”

“Thanks for telling me. Congratulations, truly,” Alec smiled, “have a good one,”

“You too,” Jace replied. Alec hung up the phone, the biggest smile on his face as he walked back into the kitchen. 

“Everything alright, darling?” Magnus asked. 

“Everything’s great,” Alec replied. 

“Why did Uncle Jace say?” Rafe asked.

“Well, he told me that your Aunt Clary is pregnant,” Alec told them. Magnus gasped. 

“Really?” he asked softly. 

“Yeah,” Alec nodded. 

“There’s another baby in Aunt Clary?” Max asked. 

“Yes there is,” Alec smiled. 

“That’s cool,” Rafe said, sliding off the stool and carrying his plate to the sink. 

“Rafa there’s syrup on you,” Max laughed, pointing at his brother.

“What?” Rafe looked down at him. 

“I got it,” Alec said, grabbing a wet paper towel and wiping the syrup off the school logo on his blazer, “all better,”

“Thanks dad,” he said before continuing to put his plate in the sink. 

“Oh, remember, Rafe, you see the therapist after school today,” Magnus reminded him. 

“Why don’t I get to go?” Max pouted. 

“Because you go tomorrow,” Alec said. They had decided that having both boys see the same therapist would be best as she would know both the boy’s accounts of the story and hopefully be able to help them better. Alec and Magnus each saw the same therapist for similar reasons. If the kids weren’t still so young they’d all see the same therapist, but they decided the boys needed one that specialized in children and trauma.

The therapist was the absolute best decision they’ve ever made. Within the month of seeing her, Rafe began talking more than he ever had before and Max was back to his old self in no time. The therapist was the only reason they stopped sleeping in Alec and Magnus’ room. Alec and Magnus felt they owed her more money than they paid her. 

“Come on boys, get your shoes and coats, we’ve got to go,” Magnus said. Rafe ran to the door and Max shoved the last bit of his food in his mouth before following his brother. Magnus grabbed the plate and put it in the sink, rinsing the syrup off both the plates. 

“I love you,” Alec said, wrapping his arms around Magnus’ from behind and pressing a few kisses to his neck. 

“I love you too, darling,” Magnus replied, “don’t take this the wrong way, but why are you being super lovey this morning?

“I’ve just been thinking recently,” Alec sighed, “about my life. The past year, the years before that, before I met you. After all of that, everything I went through. Everything we went through, I still wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Magnus spun in his arms to face him, wrapping his arms around his husband’s neck, “I wouldn’t either,”

Alec couldn’t help but kiss him, putting as much love into the kiss as he possibly could. 

“I love you,” Alec smiled, pressing another quick kiss to his lips. 

“I love you too, Alexander,” Magnus smiled, running his fingers through Alec’s hair, “always,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's that y'all...I can't even begin to describe how much this series has meant to me. I started it back when there was no light in my life and it really helped pull me out so I could at least see the light (you should know by this point that I LOVE a good metaphor). Anywho, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart, whether you've been here since the beginning or you just found this piece, I appreciate you and thank you so much for reading.   
> If you're interested in what else I do, please subscribe to me :)   
> I love you all and I hope we get to interact elsewhere, stay safe <3

**Author's Note:**

> And so it begins...  
> I hope you all enjoyed that and I will see you back next Friday for chapter 2!


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